Power consumption by the agricultural sector in India forms just 18 per cent of the energy available and 26 per cent of the total energy sold.
The top 10 states in energy consumption are Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Karnataka, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
According to a report released by CARE Advisory, a division of Credit Analysis & Research, only 68 per cent of the energy generated is available for sale as the rest is lost in transmission and distribution (T&D).
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Who uses most power: Top 10 | |
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1 |
Gujarat |
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2 |
Andhra Pradesh |
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3 |
Maharashtra |
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4 |
Tamil Nadu |
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5 |
Punjab |
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6 |
Karnataka |
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7 |
Haryana |
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8 |
Madhya Pradesh |
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9 |
Rajasthan |
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10 |
Uttar Pradesh |
The average realisation per unit of electricity sold to agriculture on an all-India basis stood at 69 paise. While this is lower than the realisations from other consumer segments, the figure drops to just 35 paise per unit sold when tariff compensation received from state governments is factored in, the report says.
Tariff compensation for sales to agriculture sector accounts for around 50 per cent of the agriculture sales booked by the power utilities.
On an all-India basis, tariff support provided to agriculture through the power sector exceeded Rs 15,700 crore (Rs 157 billion) for 2002-03, with the top 10 states accounting for 96 per cent of this amount. If this figure is adjusted for T&D losses, the support would amount to Rs 23,697 crore (Rs 236.97 billion).
Support provided by Gujarat to its agriculture sector was comparitively higher, at Rs 2,800 crore (Rs 28 billion), considering the contribution of agriculture sector to its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The net support provided to agriculture was around 16 per cent of its agricultural output, while the share of agriculture in GSDP was around 12 per cent.
Net support provided to agriculture sector in Tamil Nadu formed about 14 per cent of the agricultural sector's contribution to GSDP, while the share of agriculture sector in GSDP stood at about 10 per cent.
In the case of Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, the net support provided to agriculture was about 4 per, 5 per cent and 6 per cent of the respective contribution of agriculture sector to states' GSDP while the share of agriculture to their respective GDPs was 12, 37, and 26 per cent, respectively.
