Power subsidy: Amarinder govt formulating ‘give it up’ policy

THE PSPCL SUPPLIES FREE POWER TO ABOUT 14 LAKH AGRICULTURE TUBEWELLS ACROSS THE STATE

CHANDIGARH: After Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh made an appeal to affluent farmers, the state government has decided to come up with a policy for giving up power subsidy.

The government, which has to scrounge up funds to meet its rising power subsidy bill, is formulating a detailed policy to facilitate beneficiaries of free power who are willing to surrender their subsidy and opt for paid supply for agriculture pump-sets installed on their agriculture farms. “The consultation process is currently underway to decide the rate of electricity to be charged from such consumers, irrespective of size of land holdings,” a senior power department official said.

He said the department is consulting the stakeholders, including Punjab State Farmers’ Commission, to decide an “attractive” tariff to encourage consumers of agriculture supply category. During the budget session, Amarinder had offered to surrender his power subsidy while making an appeal to big and well-to-do farmers. But the response was poor, as no one came forward to give up his free supply.

In 2015, AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira, who is leader of opposition in Punjab assembly, had also made an open appeal while sending a letter to the department to surrender his power subsidy. Khaira, who was in the Congress at that time, had appealed to “rich and influential farmers”, besides politicians, including the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, to give up their power subsidy. “I voluntarily gave up my subsidy almost two years ago,” he told Hindustan Times. The PSPCL supplies free power to about 14 lakh agriculture tubewells across the state.

The government compensates the corporation by paying subsidy.

The rising power subsidy bill, which has been pegged at ₹10,255 crore in current year, has become a huge burden for the fundstarved state government.