Maharashtra: 5.82 Lakh Farmers Pay Arrears Of Rs 511 Crore, Most Payments From Pune Division

Mumbai, 17th March 2021: Responding positively to the new agricultural pump power policy formulated by Energy Minister Dr Nitin Raut, 5.82 lakh farmers in the state have so far paid the arrears of agricultural pump electricity bills of Rs 511.26 crore.
A rebate of Rs 256 crore has been given for Rs 511.26 crore paid. A total of 5 lakh 82 thousand 114 farmers have paid the arrears. The highest arrears have been paid in the Pune division.
The new agriculture pump policy announced on 18 December 2020 is getting good response across the state. A huge number of farmers have availed of this scheme.
There are 44 lakh 44 thousand agricultural pump consumers in the state having arrears of Rs 45,785 crores. 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 thanked the farmers for paying the arrears. He also appealed to all the farmers to avail the benefits of this scheme and get rid of arrears.
The scheme has been implemented for three years. Agricultural pump consumers paying arrears in the first year will be given a 50 percent 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 taking advantage of 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.
Out 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 8 hours a day during the daytime.
Regional Office wise recovery arrears
Pune – 201.20 crore
Konkan– 172.48 crores
Nagpur– 48.15 crores
Aurangabad– 89.44 crores