Maha govt to provide energy efficient agri pumps by 2019

Maharashtra government plans to replace all 40 lakh agriculture pumps presently in the state with the energy-efficient ones in next four years.
The energy efficient pumps would not only reduce power bills of farmers, but also provide respite to the state exchequer, bringing down the subsidy amount by at least Rs 4,000 crore each year, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said.
The state government provides electricity for agriculture pumps at a rate of Rs 85 paise per unit and gives a subsidy of Rs 8,000 crore annually for it.
"Though we provide electricity to farmers at a subsidised rate, farmers do not pay their bills regularly. The pending dues towards such bills amount to Rs 11,000 crore," Bawankule said.

The minister said he has suggested that energy efficient agriculture pumps be imported, which will help reduce power consumption by at least 30 per cent.
"To change 40 lakh pumps installed across Maharashtra, we will need Rs 12,000 crore. I have spoken to Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse and requested that his department share the costs so that the scheme can be implemented," he said.

Bawankule claimed that Maharashtra State Power Generation Company and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company have sufficient funds. They also have the option of borrowing money from other agencies, if the agriculture department does not have sufficient funds for the scheme, he said.

Each pump will cost around Rs 30,000, he said.
"We will not burden the farmers with the cost of these pumps. They will be provided these pumps free of cost, so there is no possibility of them opposing the scheme," he said.
Once new pumps are installed, the old ones will be scrapped so that they are not re-sold.
One of the features of these pumps will be that it will have a trigger installed in it and if a farmer tries to fetch more water than the pump's capacity, the trigger will immediately conk off, thereby reducing chances of a blast in the transformer, the minister said.

"Today, there are several cases of theft of power for agriculture pumps. Instead of the authorised 3 HP pumps, farmers use 5 HP pumps and because of an overload, the transformer burns out," he pointed out.