Private agri tubewells guzzle over 20% of UP’s power

But the contribution of agricultural pump sets to UP Power Corporation Ltd’s (UPPCL) revenue is significantly lower at just a little more than 9%

LUCKNOW Over 20% of Uttar Pradesh’s electricity is consumed exclusively by private agricultural tubewells, surpassing industries, and ranking as the second-biggest power guzzler after the domestic sector in the state.

‘The Statics at a Glance: 2021-22’, a publication brought out annually by the UPPCL, put private tubewells’ total share in the energy consumption in the state at 20.20% during the year. This rivalled the combined consumption of all industries and institutions, which together consumed only 20.30%. (Pic for representation)

But the contribution of agricultural pump sets to UP Power Corporation Ltd’s (UPPCL) revenue is significantly lower at just a little more than 9%.

‘The Statics at a Glance: 2021-22’, a publication brought out annually by the UPPCL, put private tubewells’ total share in the energy consumption in the state at 20.20% during the year. This rivalled the combined consumption of all industries and institutions, which together consumed only 20.30%.

As per the report, around 14.60 lakh private tubewells in UP consumed as many as more than 18942 million units (MU) of power during 2021-22, their share in the total power sold by the UPPCL being 20.20%.

Industrial consumers, on the other hand, were sold only 18028 MU power and their share in the total power consumption at 19.23% was below that of farm tubewells.

Not only did tubewells have a greater share in the state’s total power consumption, but they also boasted connected load of 9381371kw, which was more than the 9108572kw power load of all industries put together.

However, the private tubewells’ share in the total revenue earned by the UPPCL was disproportionately lower at just 9.05% against 29.42% of industries. While the per unit realization from industries was ₹9.18, it was just ₹2.60 from agricultural consumers despite subsidy by the state government.

It may be pointed out here that officially, rural feeders in UP get only 18 hours of power a day and private tubewells operate only for 120 days a year during agriculture season, unlike industries that operate round the year.

A former UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) chairman said the share of private tubewells in the total power consumption in the state is gradually increasing.

“The lifting of ban on new power connection in the state’s dark zones in 2020 and depleting groundwater in most districts, requiring farmers to install tubewells of higher capacity are also contributing to more energy usage by agricultural consumers in the state,” he said.

NO. OF PVT FARM TUBEWELLS IN U.P.

Discom No of PTWs (in lakh)

Meerut 4.97

Agra 3.12

Varanasi 3.66

Lucknow 2.85

Total 14.61