The Maharashtra government has imposed an electricity surcharge of Re 0.10 per kWh on commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers for financing the state scheme to provide 25,000 solar pumps to farmers.
Reportedly the total expense of the program is Rs. 8.25 billion but due to a shortage in funds, the surcharge on C&I consumers will be levied to finance the pumps. This surcharge is being levied from November 1, 2018.
Maharashtra had recently announced that farmers in the state will be provided with a total of 100,000 solar pumps in three phases between 2019 and 2021, of which 25,000 would be distributed in the first phase.