Mumbai, June 24: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Wednesday that the Maharashtra government aims to provide daytime electricity supply to all farmers by the end of this year. Currently, about 75% of farmers in the state already receive daytime electricity, and efforts are underway to connect the remaining 25% to the grid.
Responding to questions from MLA Sadabhau Khot and supplementary queries from members Bachhu Kadu and Praveen Darekar, the Chief Minister assured the assembly that there is no shortage of electricity in Maharashtra. According to state regulations, agricultural pumps are supplied with electricity for eight hours daily.
Addressing the brief power cuts that occurred in early May, Fadnavis explained that simultaneous technical failures at several power plants caused temporary disruptions. However, he clarified that there are currently no power cuts across the state.
The Chief Minister emphasized the success of the ‘Solar Agriculture Pump Scheme,’ which has been tailored to various geographical areas. Over the past three years, more than one million solar pumps have been successfully installed across Maharashtra, receiving positive feedback from farmers.
To meet the diverse needs of different regions, the government has implemented specialized models. Monopole and booster pumps are used to extract water from deep sources, riverbanks, and flood-prone areas. The ‘Floating Solar Pump Scheme’ has been effectively deployed in canals and open reservoirs.
In ‘dark zone’ areas, the government has arranged special subsidies for higher-capacity models and booster pumps. Fadnavis noted that those using solar pumps do not face issues related to electricity bills.
To address deficiencies in the state’s electricity distribution network, infrastructure projects worth approximately ₹25,000 crores are underway under the central government’s ‘Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme’ (RDSS). These projects include feeder separation, new sub-station construction, additional distribution transformers, and modernization of the distribution network.
The Chief Minister expressed confidence that these improvements will significantly reduce transformer failures over the next three years.
Considering the state’s growing energy demands, Maharashtra plans to achieve a power capacity of 78,000 megawatts by the fiscal year 2031-32. To ensure efficient transmission of this capacity, work worth ₹16,000 crores has already commenced under the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) framework.
Fadnavis also provided updates on the crucial ‘Mumbai Islanding’ project, designed to safeguard the capital’s grid during emergencies. The main transmission corridors have been completed, enabling an additional 3,000 MW of power to reach Mumbai. This system ensures that the city’s power grid operates without interruption, even during regional grid failures or sudden emergencies.
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