Direct delivery of electricity subsidy to farmers in Punjab: will it help conserve groundwater?

M. Dinesh Kumar, Nitin Bassi and Mahendra Singh Verma

International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2022, vol. 38, issue 2, 306-321

Abstract: The article argues that the recently introduced model for the direct delivery of an energy subsidy to well-irrigators in Indian Punjab aimed at incentivizing them to conserve electricity and groundwater is on a weak conceptual footing. Energy quota based on connected load will only lead to the resource-rich appropriating the subsidy benefits. Reduced use of well water to irrigate paddy will not arrest depletion as a large proportion of that water returns to the aquifer. The article suggests some institutional alternatives for bringing about long-term changes in the groundwater balance of Punjab based on sound water-use hydrology and the use of technology and market forces.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2021.1899900

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