MSEDCL Set to Provide 3,900 Solar Pumps Among Vidarbha Farmers

MSEDCL has announced that it has launched a drive to deliver solar farm pumps to Vidarbha’s farmers under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Pump Yojana (MSKY).

As per company officials, over 3,900 farmers will get the pumps soon. Around 50 of them have by now been provided these pumps after the code restriction was lifted.

MSKY is the innovation of energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who has focused a lot on solar energy. With solar power costs going down he is endorsing it in a big way.

A source in MSEDCL believed that 38,624 farmers had applied for solar farm pumps in the eleven districts of Vidarbha. The highest number of applications were submitted in Washim district — 7,500, while Wardha is the lowest at 1,649. The discom has so far approved 23,169 applications and issued demand notes to 6,520 farmers. Of these, 3,911 have already paid the money and will soon get the pumps.

In Nagpur district, 2,605 farmers had applied for the pumps. The company has till now cleared applications of 2,027 and issued demand notes to 721. Some 523 farmers have already paid the money.

The official further held, “If a farmer wants a 3 HP solar pump, he has to pay Rs16,560, which is 10% of the actual cost. If the farmer belongs to SC or ST communities then he has to pay only Rs8,280 (50%). The amount for 5 HP is Rs24,710 for general and Rs12,355 for SC/ST. If a farmer had applied for a conventional farm pump connection and had paid some money for it then he will have to pay only the difference.”

According to the official, the scheme is on a first-cum-first-served basis. “The farmer who pays his 10% contribution first will get the connection first. We therefore appeal to agriculturists to pay the money immediately after receiving the demand note,” he added.