This project proposes an efficient method for control of a solar water pumping system consisting of an induction motor drive (IMD) with model reference adaptive system (MRAS) based adaptive mechanism of speed estimation. An improved perturbs and observes (P&O) control technique is implemented to achieve maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The gating signals are produced by utilizing a space vector PWM (SVPWM) scheme for a 3-phase inverter. An improved third order integrator (ITOI) is proposed for adaptation of flux for improvement in the performance of the drive. The MRAS is used for estimation of slip speed and synchronous speed two estimated speed signals are used to generate the motor speed. The proposed control methodology with MRAS based reactive power technique for estimation of speed has improved the system stability for a wide range of drive speed. This system with a single stage PV topology and switching logic obtained from SVM operating three-phase VSI fed IMD with a pump as a load, is designed and implemented in MATLAB/Simulink. The suitability of developed system is validated through experimentation in the laboratory.