Maharashtra To Lead India With 100% Green Energy For Irrigation By 2026

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has announced a major shift towards solar power to meet the electricity needs of agricultural pumps. This move is expected to significantly reduce the financial burden on industrial consumers, who have been cross-subsidising irrigation costs for farmers. The transition is aimed at making Maharashtra's industrial power tariffs more competitive with states like Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, according to a Hindustan Times (HT) report.

Lokesh Chandra, Managing Director of MSEDCL, stated that by March 2026, all electricity required for agricultural pumps in Maharashtra will come from solar power. Under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana (MSKVY 2.0), contracts have been awarded to various companies to generate 16,000 MW of solar power. This will make Maharashtra the first state in India to supply 100 per cent green energy for irrigation. MSEDCL has submitted its tariff proposal to the Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

However, Chandra mentioned that due to truing-up, which involves recovering extra expenditure on power purchase and distribution over the past few years, electricity tariffs for certain consumers, including residential users, may increase from April 2025. Despite this, he assured that with cheaper solar power projects in progress, tariffs will gradually decrease over the next five years.

Maharashtra currently has 4.74 million agricultural pump consumers with outstanding electricity bill arrears amounting to Rs 65,565 crore. To support agricultural consumers, the state government provides a subsidy of Rs 6,900 crore, while industrial consumers pay higher tariffs as a cross-subsidy. This has pushed the average tariff for industrial consumers to Rs 9.45 per unit.

"MSEDCL has the highest agricultural load in India, accounting for 30 per cent of its total demand, or 40,000 million units. Supplying power at concessional rates places an annual burden of per cent 13,500 crore on industrial consumers. With MSKVY 2.0, we have accelerated the implementation of solar power projects. The power will be procured at rates between Rs 2.69 and Rs 3.10 per unit, which is much cheaper. As a result, from March 2026, Maharashtra will be the first state to provide 100 per cent green energy for agricultural pumps. This will immediately reduce the burden on industrial consumers by Rs 13,500 crore. Over the next five years, industrial tariffs will decrease from Rs 9.45 per unit to Rs 9.14 per unit," Chandra said, according to the HT report.

Without this transition, industrial power tariffs could have risen to Rs 14.67 per unit in the next five years. Chandra also highlighted that decentralised solar power generation will help MSEDCL save on transmission and distribution costs.

Looking ahead, MSEDCL plans to add 45,000 MW of power capacity over the next five years, the highest increase since Maharashtra became a state in 1960. "To support Maharashtra's goal of becoming a trillion-dollar economy, we have planned to purchase 45,000 MW of power. Additionally, MSEDCL will invest Rs 65,000 crore to expand and strengthen its distribution network. There will also be significant investment in transmission infrastructure, amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the power sector. This initiative will generate around 700,000 jobs," Chandra added, as per the same report.