Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has announced a massive waiver of approximately 48,000 crore rupees in outstanding electricity dues for agricultural consumers across the state. Speaking at a felicitation event at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the decision aims to clear the financial backlog preventing distressed farmers from securing fresh power connections for their fields. While the state government had already implemented the Chief Minister Baliraja Free Power Scheme to cover current bills for agricultural pumps up to 7.5 horsepower, longstanding historical arrears continued to block new infrastructure requests. The new initiative effectively clears these legacy liabilities, with the state government absorbing the entire financial burden to reimburse the state electricity distribution utility, MSEDCL.
The event was organized to honour the Chief Minister following the rollout of the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme, which provides comprehensive debt relief up to 2 lakh rupees on short-term crop loans. Fadnavis highlighted that the flagship program is expected to benefit nearly 56 lakh farmers. In a major procedural relaxation, the government has removed the stringent conditions that previously barred past beneficiaries of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule scheme from accessing new relief. Additionally, the state administration has withdrawn the requirement for regular loan repayments during the 2026-27 financial year, ensuring that an expanded base of vulnerable families can achieve debt-free status.
State Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharane confirmed during the ceremony that the financial allocation for the comprehensive farm loan waiver has been scaled up from 36,585 crore rupees to 40,585 crore rupees to accommodate the expanded criteria. The minister reiterated that the relief functions alongside ongoing welfare payouts from the Namo Shetkari Yojana and the Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh Crop Loan Scheme. To complement direct financial packages, Fadnavis detailed a combined central and state agricultural investment plan totaling 95,000 crore rupees for the current fiscal year. These funds are directed toward long-term agrarian modernization, including automated drip irrigation systems, high-yielding seed subsidies, cold storage supply chains, and large-scale floodwater diversion networks designed to route surplus water from the Satara-Sangli regions into drought-prone zones of Marathwada.
