CHENNAI: The Agricultural Production Commissioner Selvi Apoorva, on Saturday, directed agriculture and horticulture departments to identify defunct free electricity connections for agriculture. She instructed officials to submit a block-wise report within 10 days.
In her order, the commissioner stated, “Around 23.56 lakh free electricity connections have been provided to farmers for irrigation in the state. The state government has allocated Rs 7,280 crore in the agriculture budget for 2024-25 to settle payments to Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) for supplying free electricity to these connections...”
Noting that many farmland are being used for non-agricultural activities with the wells and borewells still remaining, she said identifying such unused connections would provide a clear picture of the actual connections being used for irrigation, allowing payments to Tangedco to be adjusted accordingly. The commissioner also instructed field officials from the Agriculture and Horticulture departments to conduct a block-wise survey of abandoned wells and borewells with free electricity connections.