From now on, only solar pumps for state farmers
Ashish Roy | tnn | Jan 26, 2019, 05:26 IST
Nagpur: State energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has directed MSEDCL to install only solar farm pumps for farmers who had applied for a connection from April 1, 2018. He has set a target of installing 50,000 such pumps by March 31, 2019.
An MSEDCL spokesperson said that solar pumps had a lot of advantages over conventional ones. “Firstly, the farmer gets power during the day and does have to take the risk of going to his farm at night. Secondly, the government does not have to subsidize their power consumption. Nor do industrial and commercial consumers have to cross-subsidize them,” he said.
“Moreover, installing solar pumps is cheaper in many cases. Sometimes, the cost of installation of regular pumps is over Rs 2.5 lakh,” he the spokesperson said. “Our special targets are the areas where installing conventional pumps is very costly due to lack of infrastructure. It will take a lot of money to lay a line from a far away pole to the farmer’s field,” he said.
“Our company has been asked to meet farmers during weekly markets and tell them about advantages of solar pumps. We will also hold connection fairs,” said the spokesperson.
MSEDCL had started a portal for obtaining solar pump connections this week. It has already received over 2,000 applications. “We have asked our staffers to fill up forms on the portals on behalf of farmers who are not tech savvy,” the official said.
Under the solar farm pump project, 30% of the cost of the pump will be borne by the central government and 5% each by the state government and the beneficiary farmers. The remaining 60% would be sanctioned by way of bank loan, which will be later repaid by MSEDCL in equal instalments.
MSEDCL is installing six types of solar pumps. “We are providing pumps of 3 horse power (HP), 5 HP and 7.5 HP capacity, respectively. We have both AC and DC pumps for all these capacities. The farmers have to choose the type of pump he wants and pay their 5% share. The share ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 22,000,” an official said.
An MSEDCL spokesperson said that solar pumps had a lot of advantages over conventional ones. “Firstly, the farmer gets power during the day and does have to take the risk of going to his farm at night. Secondly, the government does not have to subsidize their power consumption. Nor do industrial and commercial consumers have to cross-subsidize them,” he said.
“Moreover, installing solar pumps is cheaper in many cases. Sometimes, the cost of installation of regular pumps is over Rs 2.5 lakh,” he the spokesperson said. “Our special targets are the areas where installing conventional pumps is very costly due to lack of infrastructure. It will take a lot of money to lay a line from a far away pole to the farmer’s field,” he said.
“Our company has been asked to meet farmers during weekly markets and tell them about advantages of solar pumps. We will also hold connection fairs,” said the spokesperson.
MSEDCL had started a portal for obtaining solar pump connections this week. It has already received over 2,000 applications. “We have asked our staffers to fill up forms on the portals on behalf of farmers who are not tech savvy,” the official said.
Under the solar farm pump project, 30% of the cost of the pump will be borne by the central government and 5% each by the state government and the beneficiary farmers. The remaining 60% would be sanctioned by way of bank loan, which will be later repaid by MSEDCL in equal instalments.
MSEDCL is installing six types of solar pumps. “We are providing pumps of 3 horse power (HP), 5 HP and 7.5 HP capacity, respectively. We have both AC and DC pumps for all these capacities. The farmers have to choose the type of pump he wants and pay their 5% share. The share ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 22,000,” an official said.
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