The Direct Benefit Transfer for YSR free power scheme in Andhra Pradesh has received massive response from farmers across all 13 districts with 92 percent of total farmers giving their consent to the power utilities to implement the DBT scheme.
The State government introduced the DBT scheme for free power supply wherein nine hours of quality power will be supplied to farm lands during day.
While the Discoms will install metres, it will help them to better monitor supplies and distribute the load.
By installing metres, the load of agriculture in particular village, mandal, district and over all State-wide loads can be accurately measured.
While the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has fixed a tariff of ₹5.73 per unit for agriculture power supply, there will not be any burden on the farmers as the government shall bear the entire amount in the form of subsidy.
The DBT scheme implemented as pilot project in Srikakulam district was successful with 98.6 per cent of farmers giving consent voluntarily for installing metres and entered into agreement, officials said.
State Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy in a statement said the government will safeguard the interests of farmers. The government will ensure all the farmers in the State get free power for the next 30 years. This will improve their living standards. The government will bear the expenditure for the free power scheme.
“Under DBT Scheme, a farmer need not pay even a single rupee from his pocket. The government will deposit entire amount in the accounts of farmers. They will in turn pay to the power utilities. This will improve transparency and accountability among power utilities and provide right to demand for farmers,” Minister said.