Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday announced in the budget that electricity tariffs in the state will decrease over the next five years. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (Mahavitaran) has submitted a proposal to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to determine electricity tariffs for the next five years. Due to planned initiatives in the energy sector and the procurement of lower-cost green energy, it is estimated that electricity purchase costs will be reduced by Rs1.13 lakh crore over this period. As a result, industrial electricity rates in the state will be lower than in other states, as stated in the budget.
Earlier, CM Devendra Fadnavis announced that the government will list the Mahavitaran on the stock market to raise funds and lift Mahavitaran's financial burden.
The government has set a goal of meeting the agricultural sector’s demand of 16,000 megawatts through green energy. To ensure reliable daytime power supply to farmers, solar projects are being undertaken for 2,779 power substations across 27 districts under the Chief Minister’s Solar Agricultural Feeder Scheme 2.0. These projects are expected to be completed by October 2026.
Since January 2024, a total of 2,90,129 solar agricultural pumps have been installed. The budget also notes that approximately 1,000 pumps are being installed daily at the current pace.
No Provision for Free Power
Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Baliraja’ free electricity scheme, 45 lakh agricultural pumps of up to 7.5 HP capacity are being provided with free electricity. By the end of December 2024, a total electricity subsidy of Rs7,978 crore has been granted under this scheme. However, no further provisions have been made for this scheme in the new budget.
Before the upcoming Assembly elections, this scheme was announced in the July budget alongside the Ladki Bahin Yojana. While financial provisions have been made for the Ladki Bahin Yojana, no allocation has been made for the free electricity scheme in the new budget.
