Power subsidy worth over Rs 18,000 crore given to farmers in 2 years: Kanu Desai

“There has been no increase in the electricity tariff of farmers in the last two decades,” the minister said.

On the issue of subsidy in electricity bills in multiple districts in the last two years, the minister said that in Mehsana district, 43,468 farmers have been given Rs 701.44 crore in 2023 and 44,471 farmers were given a subsidy of Rs 637.65 crore in 2024. In Amreli district, 1,32,463 farmers have been given Rs 377.41 crore in 2023 and1,35,793 farmers were given Rs 339.28 crore in 2024 as a subsidy in the last two years. At least 31,637 farmers in Ahmedabad district have been given a power subsidy of Rs. 153.04 crore in 2023 and 34,048 farmers received Rs 135.09 crore in 2024. In Navsari district, 52,205 farmers have been given a subsidy of Rs 74.87 crore in 2023 and 52,369 farmers got Rs 66.92 crore in 2024, Desai said.

However, in an additional question raised by Leader of Congress Legislative Party Amit Chavda as to why the subsidy amount has decreased while the number of farmers has increased over time, the minister replied that the decline in subsidy amount is due to “cutting of fuel charges by the power generation companies”.

Solar pumps

Further, on another question raised by BJP MLA Prdyuman Vaja from Gir Somnath’s Kodinar on how many solar pumps have been provided under the PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan), the energy minister said that the farmers were given financial assistance for installing the solar pumps. Providing details about the same, he said, 3,402 farmers of Narmada district were provided Rs 14,860 lakh, 449 farmers of Valsad district Rs 1,768 lakh, 356 farmers of Banaskantha district Rs 1,490 lakh, 189 farmers of Chhota Udepur district Rs 591 lakh, 161 farmers of Tapi district Rs 687 lakh and 123 farmers of Gir Somnath 123 have been given assistance of more than Rs 630 lakh. Regarding the additional assistance provided under this scheme, a special provision has been made to provide solar pump sets to farmers in the forest areas of the state.

“When the power line is passed through the forest area to provide electricity to a farmer or when it is not possible to provide traditional electricity connection, such farmers are provided with a solar pump set by paying a fixed charge of Rs 6,500 to Rs 12,000 per horsepower instead of 40 per cent contribution. The remaining cost is given as an additional subsidy by the state government,” he said.

“Apart from this, farmers in tribal areas are also exempted from paying a fixed charge for solar energy-powered pump sets. That is, farmers in tribal areas do not have to pay any amount under this scheme,” he added.