To please farmers, state announces free power for agriculture pumps among other schemes

Maharashtra govt announces 'Mukhya Mantri Baliraja Vij Savlat Yojana' to pay farmers' power bills. Also plans to solarize agricultural grids to reduce costs.

MUMBAI: As Maharashtra approaches the assembly elections, the state government on Friday declared a slew of schemes for the farmers who are going through agrarian distress. Notable among these is the ‘Mukhya Mantri Baliraja Vij Savlat Yojana’ (Chief Minister Farmers Electricity Concession Scheme), under which the burden of the power bills of the farmers for using agriculture pumps will be paid by the state government.

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Around 44.06 lakh farmers will benefit from this scheme. “The government has decided to provide free electricity of up to 7.5 horsepower capacity for agriculture pumps. A provision of ₹14,761 crore will be earmarked for subsidy,” Pawar stated.

The state government is already giving subsidies to the farming community to reduce the financial burden of power bills. While the generation cost comes to ₹7 per unit, the government charges ₹1.50 per unit from the farmers.

As giving free power is likely to create a huge burden on the state exchequer, the government has decided to separate agricultural electricity grids and solarize them. It plans to spend ₹15,000 crore on this project.

“It will take around three years to completely shift to solar energy. Once shifted, the cost of the power will come down to ₹2 to ₹3.05 paise per unit from the existing ₹7 per unit. After three years, we will be able to give free power for farming,” said deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The arrears for non-payment of electricity bills are rising, and the major pending dues are of agriculture pumps, as the recovery rate is around 3% only and forceful recovery will be a political suicide for the government. By the end of 2021, the pending arrears of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) had already touched ₹50,000 crore.

And, on top of that, the state government now plans to give solar pumps to 8.5 lakh farmers.

As there were expectations of loan waiver for farmers, Pawar clarified that they announced only what was financially feasible.

The other farmer-related schemes declared in the state budget are: ‘Gaon tethe Godam’ for storage of agricultural produce at the village level. In the first phase, construction of 100 new godowns and repair of existing godowns will be undertaken. A revolving fund of ₹100 crore will be established for the purchase of pulses and oilseeds at support price, through NAFED, in kharif and rabi seasons. And financial assistance of ₹5000 per hectare to the cotton and soybean farmers, with a limit of two hectares, during the Kharif marketing season 2023-24.