Gujarat Energy Minister Kanu Desai said that farmers in 97 per cent villages in the state are being provided electricity during daytime. Desai made these remarks while replying to the queries during the ongoing Legislative Assembly session on Tuesday.
Desai added that farmers have been given a subsidy of Rs 18,004 crore in two years for electricity bill relief.“Farmers in 97 per cent villages in the state are being provided electricity during daytime. In the remaining 3 per cent areas, which include Banaskantha, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Kutch districts, work is underway to resolve land and legal issues quickly,” he said.
Giving information about the gradual increase in agricultural electricity consumption in the state, Desai said that 2388 crore units of electricity have been consumed in 2021-22, 2599 crore units during 2022-23, 2630 crore units in 2023-24 and 2016 crore units in 2024-25 till January-2025. The maximum electricity demand was recorded at 10,107 MW in January 2025. Keeping in view the additional power load arising from providing electricity during the day, the state government has allocated a total of Rs 8810 crore in the Budget for the upgradation of Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO)’s transmission infrastructure. Under the upgrade, by February 2025, 3,753 circuit km of power lines and 34 new power substations have been completed at a total cost of Rs 4412.72 crore, said the minister.
Responding to a query by BJP MLA Keshaji Chauhan, Desai said that Rs 8,233 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 9,771 crore in 2023-24, totalling Rs 18,004 crore, was given as a subsidy in two years for electricity bill relief to farmers of the state.
Sharing details about various electricity rates, Desai said that two types of electricity rates are applicable on farmers in the state — horse power and meter based. The farmers paying electricity bills based on horse power have to pay at the rate of Rs 665 per horsepower per year instead of the electricity rate of Rs 2,400 per horsepower per year announced by the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission. The state government pays the amount difference of Rs 1,735 per horsepower per year to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited as subsidy on behalf of the farmers. Apart from this, the farmers have also been exempted from paying fuel surcharge and electricity duty, he added. Regarding meter-based electricity bills, the minister said that the fixed charge rate to be paid by farmers in electricity bills was earlier Rs 20 per horsepower per month, for which relief has been given by the state government. For electricity loads up to 7.5 horsepower, the monthly fixed charge is Rs 10 per horsepower and for electricity loads above 7.5 horsepower, the monthly fixed charge is Rs 5 per horsepower. The fixed charge to be paid by farmers paying meter-based electricity bills has been reduced by 50 to 75 per cent, said the minister.
He said that in the last two decades, 14 lakh new agricultural electricity connections have been given to farmers and currently the number of these connections is over 20 lakh. The subsidy given to farmers for relief in electricity bills has increased almost five times in the last two decades, he added. Moreover, there has been no increase in the electricity rate of farmers in the last two decades, Desai added.
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