Lok Sabha Question No. 3890 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-18
Subject: Free Electricity to Farmers
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Manne Srinivas Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3890 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2021

## FREE ELECTRICITY TO FARMERS

3890.   SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether  some  States  are  providing  free  electricity  to  farmers  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;

- (b) the number of farmers benefitted during the last three years and the current year, crop and State-wise;
- (c) whether the State Government of Telangana was providing free electricity to farmers for 24 hours and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the role of the Government along with the quantum of funds spent thereto for the said purpose, State-wise?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

(a) & (b) : As per section 65 of the Electricity Act 2003, the State Governments may grant any subsidy, to any consumer or class of consumers including farmers, in the tariff determined by the State Commission. Accordingly, some states provide subsidy to farmers which may be to the extent of part or full tariff as determined by the State Commission.

As per the information given by the States to Central Electricity Authority, the details of States which are providing free electricity to farmers are given at Annexure-I.

(c) & (d) : As per information received from Telangana State Transco Ltd, the Telangana State is providing 24 hours free electricity supply to farmers w.e.f. 01.01.2018 onwards.  The number of  farmers  benefitted  in  the  State  of  Telangana  during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current year is given below:

| FY wise                 |   No. of Agriculture farmers benefitted in Telangana State (for all crops) in Lakhs |
|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18                 |                                                                               22.99 |
| 2018-19                 |                                                                               23.8  |
| 2019-20                 |                                                                               24.46 |
| 2020-21 (as on Jan2021) |                                                                               25.11 |

As per the Electricity Act 2003, the subsidy is given by the State Government. Reported state-wise direct electricity subsidy extended to Agriculture sector by the State for the year 2017-18 and 2018-19 is given at Annexure-II.

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ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3890 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2021 ***************

The details of States which are providing free electricity to farmers

|   Sl. No. | State          | Effective date    | Category                                                                                     | Charge Rate   |   *Number of Agriculture consumer as 31.03.2019 |
|-----------|----------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh | w.e.f. 01.04.2019 | AGRICULTURE & RELATED Non-Corporate Farmers/ Sugarcane Crushing/Rural Horticulture Nurseries | Nil           |                                         1740418 |
|         2 | Karnataka      | w.e.f. 01.04.2019 | Agriculture (For connected load upto 10HP)                                                   | Nil           |                                         2969013 |
|         3 | Punjab         | w.e.f. 01.06.2019 | Agriculture (For all connected load) (With Govt. subsidy)                                    | Nil           |                                         1378960 |
|         4 | Tamil Nadu     | w.e.f. 11.08.2017 | Agriculture (For all connected load )                                                        | Nil           |                                         2117440 |
|         5 | Telangana      | w.e.f. 01.04.2018 | Agricultural (Demand Side Management(DSM) measures mandatory) Other than Corporate farmers   | Nil           |                                         2305318 |

*As per General Review 2020 published by Central Electricity Authority.

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ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3890 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2021

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|   Sl. No. | State             | 2017-18   | 2018-19   |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | 0.02      |           |
|         2 | Assam             | 0.00      | 0         |
|         3 | Andhra Pradesh    | 2750.00   | 1250.00   |
|         4 | Bihar             | 165.05    | 318.2     |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh      | 1668.66   | 1645.31   |
|         6 | Delhi*            |           | 6.69      |
|         7 | Goa               | 0.00      | 0.16      |
|         8 | Gujarat           | 5873.62   | 6259.44   |
|         9 | Himachal Pradesh  | 12.17     | 16.74     |
|        10 | Haryana*          | 6550.86   | 7139.72   |
|        11 | J & K             |           |           |
|        12 | Jharkhand*        | 0.00      | 22.88     |
|        13 | Karnataka         | 8449.85   | 8856.66   |
|        14 | Kerala            | 16.07     | 23.21     |
|        15 | Madhya Pradesh    | 8763.48   | 9903.01   |
|        16 | Maharashtra       | 4870.00   | 5539.00   |
|        17 | Manipur           | 0.76      |           |
|        18 | Mizoram           | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        19 | Meghalaya         | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        20 | Nagaland          | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        21 | Odisha            | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        22 | Punjab            | 6029.29   | 5669.51   |
|        23 | Rajasthan         | 10033.07  | 10718.03  |
|        24 | Sikkim            | 0.00      | 0         |
|        25 | Tamil Nadu        | 3765.91   | 4097.6    |
|        26 | Telangana         | 3235.66   | 4687.44   |
|        27 | Tripura           | 5.39      | 4.43      |
|        28 | Uttarakhand       | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        29 | Uttar Pradesh     | 240.00    | 1700      |
|        30 | West Bengal       | 22.91     | 22.84     |
|        31 | A&N Islands       | 1.06      | 1.21      |
|        32 | Chandigarh        | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        33 | Daman & Diu       | 0.00      |           |
|        34 | D&NH              | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        35 | Lakshadweep       | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|        36 | Puducherry        | 2.02      | 3.10      |
|        37 | Ladakh            |           |           |

Source: Department/SERC/JERC/Discoms of States/UTs J&K ( Now 2 UTs) have not sent data from 2015-16 till date.    Haryana figures are for UHBVNL, Panchkula Bihar has given DS of only FY 2018-19 rest Year's DS is of previous communication Assam Subsidy figures are updated after telephonic conversation *GoNCTD  has  provided  direct subsidy @ Rs. 105/kW/month  on  fixed charges  to Agriculture Sector.

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