The power consumption rate of agricultural irrigation pumps in Chhattisgarh have registered a phenomenal increase of 287 per cent during the past few years, officials of the State-owned power companies informed on Friday.
“For strengthening power distribution infrastructure in rural parts of Chhattisgarh, 18,618 km 33 KV lines and 93,905 km 11 KV lines have already been installed,” Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) of State- owned power companies Vijay Mishra said.
He informed that currently over 3.73 lakh irrigation pumps are being used by farmers in Chhattisgarh.
According to him, under the ‘Krishak Jeevan Jyoti Yojana’ run by the State government, on every 3 HP pumps 6,000 units and over 5 HP pumps 7,500 units are being provided free of cost to the farmers every year.
likewise, for farmers belonging to Scheduled Caste and Tribes Category, there is no limit of power consumption in agriculture.
Mishra further informed that during the fiscal 2016-17 a target of electrifying 17,000 irrigation pumps is set and for installing power lines for this purpose, grant of Rs 1 lakh will be given on each pump.