Nagpur: The state cabinet meeting on Tuesday gave approval to clear 2.24 lakh pending applications for agriculture
pump power connections. This will be done through a new network of high voltage distribution system (HVDS), which will cost the state Rs5,048 crore.
Announcing this at a press briefing after the cabinet meeting, state energy
minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said as on date 23,100 Megawatts of electricity was being evacuated and distributed in the state. He stressed that the state was self-sufficient and there was no load-shedding regime in force. Solar power generation would be scaled up to 2,000MW by December this year, he added.
The minister said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised during legislature’s winter session in December 2017 to deliver better quality, uninterrupted power to farmers. So, farmers had applied and paid the requisite fee. Accordingly, now it has been decided to implement HVDS plan. The new lines would cost Rs4,496.69 crore and another Rs551.44 crore would be needed for new sub-stations, taking the cost to Rs5,048.13 crore.
In last four years, the state power utility has provided connections to four lakh agriculture pumps. Each connection costs Rs1.5 lakh. In the new HVDS, the per connection cost is estimated to go up to Rs2 lakh, the minister said. But the new system would reduce losses as it prevents thefts and distribution losses. To implement HVDS, a new cell will be set up at the Mahavitaran headquarters. The old system of low voltage power would also continue.