State pushes free power, solar drive for farmers

Vijayawada: Energy minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar informed the Assembly that as many as 22,30,703 free agricultural electricity connections have been provided across the state. Responding to a question raised by MLA Konathala Ramakrishna, the minister detailed the government’s initiatives to ensure uninterrupted free power supply to farmers.

He stated that after the coalition government led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assumed office, 1,02,538 new free agricultural connections were sanctioned across the three discoms. However, about 46,000 applications are still pending. The Minister assured the House that all pending connections would be cleared before the next agricultural season.

For the 2025–26 financial year, the state government has allocated Rs 839.44 crore towards providing free electricity to farmers under the three DISCOMs. Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, 2,61,481 agricultural electricity connections have been sanctioned so far. Ravi Kumar said that implementation of feeder-level solar projects would result in savings of Rs 1,059 crore in power purchase costs for the State.

Solar power plants are being set up near 11 KV lines to ensure a uniform tariff for consumers over the next 25 years. Land acquisition for feeder-level solar projects is underway, and tenders have been invited for projects with a capacity of 1,035 MW. Construction is expected to commence from May.

The government has set a target of generating 4,000 MW of solar power between 2028 and 2030. Once fully operational, these feeder-level solar plants will enable the supply of nine hours of quality power to farmers during morning hours.

Separately, the minister announced that 2,947 vacant posts in the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited will soon be filled. The vacancies include 581 Energy Assistants, 1,260 Junior Linemen, 1,084 Assistant Linemen, and 22 Linemen. Currently, 8,770 outsourced personnel are managing operations to prevent disruption of services.

Reiterating the government’s commitment, Ravi Kumar said the energy department is working systematically to ensure uninterrupted, quality power supply to domestic, industrial, commercial consumers and farmers alike, without low-voltage issues across the state.