Mumbai, Sep 30 : The Maharashtra Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday, approved a hike of 9.90 paise per unit in the additional tax on sale of electricity (Additional Time of Supply/Servicing Equipment) to be recovered from industrial and commercial consumers of the private electricity distribution companies and the state-run Mahavitaran.

The state Cabinet has cleared the increase in additional time of supply/servicing equipment to 20.94 paise per unit from the present level of 11.04 paise per unit.

The mobilisation of money through the increase will be used to fund the Pradhan Mantri Kusum Phase-B Yojana.

The government statement said that Pradhan Mantri Kusum Ghatak-B Yojana will enable farmers to irrigate during the day by providing sufficient electricity to agricultural pumps in the state.

The government proposes to install a total of 6.50 lakh solar agricultural pumps in the state under the Pradhan Mantri Kusum Ghatak-B Yojana, the statement added.

As of now, more than 4.23 lakh solar agricultural pumps have been installed in the state.

The state government needs funds worth Rs 3,591.38 crore to complete installation of the remaining 2.27 lakh solar agricultural pumps by March 2026.

The state government expects mobilisation of Rs 147 crore per month and Rs 1,764 crore annually following the rise in additional time of supply/servicing equipment.

In order to ensure the availability of necessary funds for the effective implementation of this scheme, it has been decided to increase the rate of additional electricity sales tax on the units sold by the companies.

According to the government statement, the Pradhan Mantri Kusum Ghatak-B Yojana in Maharashtra is part of the national PM-KUSUM scheme, which aims to support farmers in installing standalone solar agriculture pumps to replace diesel pumps in off-grid areas.

Under this scheme, farmers receive financial support for pump installation, with the state government providing a significant portion of the cost as a subsidy and loan, making solar irrigation more accessible and promoting renewable energy.

Under this scheme, the Central government provides a 30 per cent subsidy on the benchmark cost of the pump and a loan of up to 30 per cent of the project cost is also available.

Financial support is given for pumps up to 7.5 horsepower, though higher capacity pumps can be installed with the farmer covering the excess cost.

/IANS