Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced a major relief measure for farmers by waiving electricity bill arrears worth Rs 48,000 crore. The decision, announced at a farmers’ gratitude ceremony organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kisan Morcha, aims to clear pending dues and provide farmers with a fresh financial start.

Fadnavis said the waiver would remove historical electricity debts that had remained registered in farmers’ names, even though the state government currently provides free electricity for agricultural pumps up to 7.5 horsepower (HP). He said the unpaid dues had created difficulties for farmers seeking new power connections and that the government’s decision would help eliminate these obstacles.

The Chief Minister highlighted the state’s ongoing efforts to provide affordable and sustainable electricity to the agricultural sector. He said Maharashtra spends around Rs 25,000 crore annually on power subsidies and that solar pump and solar agricultural feeder schemes have already enabled nearly 76 per cent of farmers to receive daytime electricity. The government aims to extend daytime agricultural power access to all farmers by the end of the year.

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Fadnavis said the electricity waiver, along with other farmer welfare measures such as loan waivers, were policy decisions aimed at strengthening agriculture rather than political moves linked to elections. He argued that repeated loan waivers are not a permanent solution and said the long-term answer lies in making farming profitable through modern technology, improved irrigation, better investment, and market access.

The Chief Minister pointed to initiatives launched since 2014, including the Jalyukt Shivar water conservation programme and the Magel Tyala Shettale farm pond scheme, which he said have helped farmers move from single-crop cultivation to multiple cropping. He also highlighted efforts to promote group farming, natural farming, and indigenous cattle conservation to reduce input costs and improve soil health.

Addressing Maharashtra’s water challenges, Fadnavis said the state government was planning large-scale water management projects, including river-linking initiatives to support drought-prone regions. He said projects such as the Wainganga-Nalganga water transfer plan, construction of new dams, and reservoir expansion were part of a broader strategy involving agricultural and infrastructure investments worth around Rs 6 lakh crore. He added that the government’s goal was to create long-term solutions so future generations would not face recurring drought conditions.

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