Energy Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy has said that the government will ensure that farmers in Andhra Pradesh get free power for the next 25 years.
The power utilities in the State are trying to implement the installation of electricity meters to agricultural pumpsets under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, which would help the Energy Department supply quality power to the farm sector, the officials said during a review meeting chaired by the Energy Minister on Sunday.
The officials said that the DBT scheme was a success in all districts, as the power utilities had secured the consent for 15.99 lakh agricultural connections, against the target of 16.34 lakh connections.
They said it showed the willingness of farmers to avail of the benefits of the scheme.
The officials said that the objective of installing the electricity meters was to know the efficiency of power lines and transformers and improve them as and when required.
The energy demand for agriculture sector, which was 10832 MUs in 2018-19 financial year, had increased to 12720 MUs in 2021-22 (17.42 %). The demand is expected to increase to 13194 MUs during the 2022-23 financial year.
