Free Power to Farmers in AP

Telugu Desam Party which has vehimently opposed ' Free Power concept' when they were in power, has now changed their stand and offered to give 9 hours free power supply to farmers if elected to power.
This shows how 'power' ( electricity) and POWER are so closely connected in developing countries.
Congress party has already implemented this policy in AP and I feel it is too late for TDP to adopt the same line. But better late than never!

Right!For many Free Power to farmers may appear a very populist policy, but to me ( being a power engineer) it is very rational and also makes political sense.

1. For those who are opposing 'free power' policy they must be clear in their mind what charge they want to collect from the farmers.
2. Actual cost of supply ( CoS) of electricity to farmers is about Rs 2.50 and no government could collect more than 50 paise form the farmers in AP, as paying capacity of farmers is very low.
3. At 50 ps/unit total revenue from farm sector is only Rs 450 crore/anum, compared to total budget for the power sector, which is about 12500 crores/anum.
4. But for a farmer 50 ps/unit is a huge burden and any relief is most welcome.
5. Moreover there are lot of inefficiencies in the system, leading to wastage of electricity. so instead of charging farmer it would made sense to encourage him to save power.
6. Thus government may lose 50 ps, but if a farmer can save one unit it would result in saving of 250 ps.

Finally no farmer really wanted free power. They are ready to pay some amount within their abilities..but what every farmer wants is quality power! This looks a distant dream.
Raghu