UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on AgriStack and role of nuclear energy (Week 142)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the role of nuclear energy and energy storage systems in complementing renewable energy in ensuring grid reliability.

QUESTION 1: “AgriStack has been introduced as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the agricultural sector in India.” What are the key components of AgriStack and discuss the role of AgriStack in improving access to agricultural schemes and services.

Relevance: This question is relevant to GS Paper III (Agriculture, Science & Technology, Inclusive Growth) as it examines the use of Digital Public Infrastructure in agricultural governance. The topic is significant in the context of agrarian reforms, digital governance, and farmer income enhancement.

Note: This is not a model UPSC answer. It only provides you with a thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— AgriStack is a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the farm sector, an initiative under the Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM), and was approved by the Union Cabinet in September, 2024.

— The AgriStack comprises three foundational registries or databases in the agriculture sector: the Farmer Registry, Geo-referenced village maps and the Crop Sown Registry, all created and maintained by the State Governments or Union Territories.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

Foundational registries on which the AgriStack is built

Farmer Registry

— Under the AgriStack, farmers are given a digital identity (Farmer ID) similar to Aadhaar, which are linked dynamically to the State’s land records, livestock ownership, crops sown, demographic details, family details, schemes and benefits availed. The government aims to create digital identities for 11 crore farmers, of which 8.62 crore have been created so far.

— With the creation of the farmers’ registry, a farmer would be able to access benefits and services digitally, obviating cumbersome paperwork and with little to no need to physically visit offices or service providers. The Centre aims to complete the Farmer Registry with dynamic Records of Rights (RoR) synchronisation by March 2027. In the North Eastern States, the target was set to March 2028.

Crop Sown Registry

— The Crop Sown Registry includes details on crops planted by farmers. This is recorded through mobile-based Digital Crop Surveys on the ground each season. A pilot on the Digital Crop Survey was conducted in 11 states to develop the Crop Sown Registry in 2023-24.

Geo-referenced Village Maps data

— The Geo-referenced Village Map Registry comprises geographic information of land records linked with their locations (latitudes and longitudes). So far, 5.4 lakh village maps have been geo-referenced out of the total 6.75 lakh villages. The target is to cover all villages by March 2027.

Role of AgriStack in improving access to agricultural schemes and services

— The government aims to integrate AgriStack Registries with all its major agricultural schemes and services, including Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Minimum Support Price (MSP)-based procurement, fertiliser distribution, loans, insurance, storage, and advisory services, in a phased manner.

— The government has started using Farmer ID for registration of new farmers under PM KISAN, while some states are using it for enrolment of farmers under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). In Madhya Pradesh, the AgriStack-enabled fertiliser distribution model has been tried to address artificial shortages, inequitable access, and diversion. In Maharashtra, the AgriStack was used to disburse KCC loans on a pilot basis.

Conclusion:

— Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of Bharat-VISTAAR (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), a multilingual AI tool to integrate the AgriStack portals and the ICAR package on agricultural practices with AI systems.

(Source: What is AgriStack, which FM Nirmala Sitharaman has termed as the ‘next UPI’?)

Points to Ponder

Read more about Agristack

What is Bharat-VISTAAR?

Related Previous Year Questions

What is Integrated Farming System? How is it helpful to small and marginal farmers in India? (2022)

What do you mean by Minimum Support Price (MSP)? How will MSP rescue the farmers from the low income trap? (2018)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the role of nuclear energy and energy storage systems in complementing renewable energy in ensuring grid reliability.

Relevance: This question falls under GS Paper III (Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Climate Change). As India aims for net-zero by 2070, grid reliability amid rising renewable penetration is a critical policy challenge. The issue connects energy security, decarbonisation strategy, and long-term infrastructure planning.

The study projects that renewable energy’s share in electricity generation could rise from around 20% in 2024-25 to over 80% by 2070 under the Current Policy Scenario (Image generated using AI)

Note: This is not a model UPSC answer. It only provides you with a thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— Nuclear power is crucial to achieving long-term goals of power sector decarbonisation. Nuclear energy can provide firm low-carbon electricity, high-temperature industrial heat and reliable power supply for electrolyzers supporting green hydrogen production.

— In capacity terms, nuclear power is projected to grow from the current 8.18 GW in 2025 to 90-135 GW by 2070 under CPS — an increase of 10 to 15 times. Under the more ambitious Net Zero Scenario (NZS) — an accelerated pathway aligned with India’s 2070 net-zero emissions target — nuclear capacity could reach 295-320 GW.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— India’s electricity mix could shift decisively from coal-heavy to renewable-led by 2070, the government’s policy think tank NITI Aayog said in a study, even as it highlighted “structural challenges” due to which actual electricity generation by renewables has been modest so far.

— Coal remains the backbone of India’s electricity landscape, accounting for nearly 74% of generation and providing dependable, low-cost base-load power. But, the NITI study titled ‘Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero’, said that this dominance could erode steadily as India accelerates its clean energy transition.

— As coal’s role shrinks, nuclear power is expected to expand gradually, increasing its share from about 3% at present to 5-8% by 2070 under CPS, reflecting its growing role in displacing coal-based generation while providing carbon-free base-load power.

— Over the past decade, India’s renewable capacity has more than tripled, rising from 76.38 GW in March 2014 to 258 GW by December 2025. Out of India’s total installed capacity of 513 GW, fossil-based capacity accounts for 48%, renewable energy sources account for 50%, and the balance 1.7% from nuclear.

— With renewable energy forming the backbone of India’s future electricity system, the study sees nuclear power emerging as a strategic pillar of India’s long-term power transition and essential for maintaining system reliability in a renewables-dominated grid.

— It projects nuclear power capacity to grow from the current 8.18 GW in 2025 to 90-135 GW by 2070 under CPS — an increase of 10 to 15 times. Under the NZS, nuclear capacity could touch 295-320 GW.

Conclusion:

— To address these challenges, the study suggested scaling nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047 and 200-300 GW by 2070, including the advanced reactors and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to deliver reliable 24×7 clean power. It proposed encouraging large industrial and captive power consumers to transition from coal-based captive plants to SMRs, enabling cleaner baseload generation.

— Large-scale renewable deployment depends on long-duration storage technologies, which remain expensive and are yet to be deployed at scale, while nuclear projects face high capital costs and long gestation periods.

(Source: Renewable energy to dominate India’s grid by 2070, but ‘structural challenges’ are slowing the pace)

Points to Ponder

Read more about Nuclear energy

Read about other renewable energy

Related Previous Year Questions

How can India achieve energy independence through clean technology by 2047? How can biotechnology can play a crucial role in this endeavour? (2025)

With growing energy needs should India keep on expanding its nuclear energy programme? Discuss the facts and fears associated with nuclear energy? (2018)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 140)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 141)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 140)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 141)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 141)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 140)

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