Energy Minister K. J. George chairing a progress review meeting of the Energy Department at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Hosapete, Vijayanagara district, on November 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Energy Minister K. J. George said that the government of Karnataka has identified 4.5 lakh unauthorised agricultural pumpsets for regularisation. A proposal for the final decision on continuing the process will soon be placed before the Cabinet, he informed after chairing a progress review meeting of the Energy Department with legislators and officials of GESCOM and KPTCL at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Hosapete, Vijayanagara district on November 25.
Mr. George said that the government had already decided that farmers who paid regularisation fees would receive authorised power connections with the required basic infrastructure.
“Pump-sets located within 500 metres of an existing electricity line will be given regular connections, and those beyond that distance will be powered through solar pump-sets under the KUSUM-B scheme with 30% Central and 50% State subsidy,” he said. He added that solar pump-sets could lift water up to 1,000 feet and stressed the need for ‘awareness among farmers about the benefits of decentralised solar power’.
Issuing firm directions to electricity supply companies, Mr. George warned that farmers must not be made to transport failed transformers for repairs.
“ESCOM should provide vehicles to bring the transformers from agricultural fields to repair centres. If any staff or engineer forces a farmer to arrange a vehicle, strict action will be taken,” he said.
He also instructed engineers to prevent overloading, observing that ‘transformers fail mainly because multiple pump-sets are connected beyond their capacity’.
The Minister said that Karnataka is steadily moving towards power self-sufficiency and was simultaneously upgrading its distribution network. “To eliminate voltage problems, we are establishing 100 new distribution centres this year,” he said.
Responding to concerns about frequent tripping in rural feeders, he questioned officials directly and directed the GESCOM Managing Director to redistribute workload to improve monitoring at the ground level.
On issues raised by MPs and MLAs regarding the Electricity Vigilance Squad penalising poor households for unauthorised domestic connections, the Minister ordered a temporary halt to punitive action. “Do not disconnect power or register cases in colonies, tandas and minority pockets. Submit only accurate reports to the ESCOMs. The government will examine ways to provide authorised connections to the poorest households using DMF, KKRDB, SCP and TSP funds,” he said.
The Minister responded positively to a proposal to generate solar power on the 750-acre campus of Hampi Kannada University. “There is significant potential for solar generation. For producing 25 MW, about 100 acres are needed, and landowners can be paid ₹30,000 per acre per year,” he said, directing KPTCL’s technical team to inspect the site.
Mr. George reiterated that the Kalyana Karnataka region had vast potential for decentralised solar energy under KUSUM-C, especially on revenue and gram panchayat land.
Published – November 26, 2025 10:23 am IST
