UP govt waives electricity bills of farmers with private tube wells

In a major decision, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to waive electricity bills of farmers with private tube wells with retrospective effect from April 1, 2023.

The decision taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will benefit around 1.5 crore farmers, an official release said.

The government has provided Rs 1,800 crore in the 2024-25 budget for implementation of the scheme.

Furthermore, the government has put forth a proposal for a scheme aimed at assisting farmers with outstanding electricity bills predating April 1, 2023, in bill settlement without accruing interest and offering them convenient installment options.

Energy Minister A K Sharma said through this decision the government has kept its promise of providing 100 per cent exemption from power tariffs to the farmers owning private tube wells in the state. A total of 14.78 lakh tubewells will benefit from the decision of the Cabinet.

According to Sharma, on average, 8-10 farmers benefit from one tube well in terms of irrigation of their fields and thus, the total number of beneficiaries of the scheme will reach about 1.5 crore in Uttar Pradesh.

"If we consider an average family size of 5 members per farmer, approximately 6-7 crore individuals stand to benefit from this scheme. For outstanding dues predating this date, we are devising an interest-free scheme, which will be rolled out soon."