A total of 5.82 lakh farmers in the state have so far paid the arrears of agricultural pump electricity bills amounting upto Rs 511.26 crore.

A rebate of Rs 256 crore has been given on the amount of Rs 511.26 crore paid. A total of 5,82,114 farmers have paid the arrears. The highest arrears have been paid in the Pune division, an official statement from MSEDCL has said today.

The new agriculture pump policy, announced on December 18, 2020, is getting a good response across the state. A huge number of farmers have availed this scheme, the statement said.

There are 44.44 lakh agricultural pump consumers in the state having arrears of Rs 45,785 crore. The new scheme will provide a total relief of Rs 30,000 crore.

The response to the scheme has been steadily increasing and the state’s Energy Minister Dr Nitin Raut has also appealed to all farmers to avail the benefits of this scheme and get rid of arrears.

The scheme is being implemented for a period of three years. Agricultural pump consumers paying arrears in the first year will be given 50 per cent discount on revised basic arrears and interest and delay charges will be waived completely. Thus, consumers who pay the entire arrears in the first year will get about 66 per cent discount.

Consumers who pay arrears in two years will get 30 per cent rebate on revised principal arrears and those who pay arrears in three years will get 20 per cent discount.

Farmers availing this scheme will be exempted from all interest and late charges on arrears before September 2015.

Also, the delay payment charges on arrears after September 2015 will be completely waived and interest on it will be charged at the average rate of interest on the loan taken by MSEDCL.

Of the arrears collected from the village, 33 per cent will be spent on the power supply infrastructure of the same village. The policy includes a significant provision to spend 33 per cent of the arrears in the circle comprising more villages on the power supply infrastructure of the same circle. The target is to supply electricity to farmers eight hours a day during daytime.

Source: The Indian Express