Lucknow, 9 Aug: Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister A K Sharma said on Wednesday that a scheme to supply farmers with free energy to power tubewells will be launched very soon. Despite the fact that the program was announced in the state budget for 2023-24, it has yet to be implemented.
In response to a query by Samajwadi Party member Mohammad Faheem Irfan in the Assembly, the minister stated, “The BJP has promised this (scheme) in its manifesto. The finance minister has included it in the state budget. It will be implemented very soon on the directives of the chief minister and the finance minister.” In the February annual budget for 2023-24, the government committed Rs 1,500 crore for the initiative.
This would be made available to Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. as a financial subsidy, allowing it to offer free power to about 14 lakh electricity-run private tubewells held by farmers in the state.
In response to another query from SP member Irfan, the minister stated that the state’s electricity tariff has not been hiked since 2019-2020.
