Rise in water use fee to fetch Maharashtra Rs 75 cr more

Maharashtra hopes to raise an additional Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million) on the back of the state Finance Minister Jayant Patil's proposal to raise water use charges.

A senior official from the water resources ministry said, "This year we expect to collect around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) as water use charges and if the proposed 15 per cent hike is factored in, our revenues would touch Rs 575 crore (Rs 5.75 billion)."

Elaborating on the rates applicable for various sectors the official said, "If water is supplied for agricultural use and to a co-operative society acting on behalf of farmers, then charges in the kharif season are Rs 47 per cubic metre - which is also the basic rate.

In rabi season charges are 1.5 times the basic rate and in summer months the rates are double the basic rate. The general thumb rule is that 70 per cent is allocated for irrigation/agricultural use. 20 per cent for non-agricultural purposes, of which three-fourths is reserved for drinking water supply and one-fourth for industrial purposes.

Drinking water rates vary between Rs 1.25 to Rs 5 per ten thousand litres. For industrial purposes charges are at Rs 30 per ten thousand litres and for cold drink manufacturers the rate is Rs 71 per ten thousand litres, he said.

Subhash Joshi, the former chairman of Marhatta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture's Pimpri-Chinchwad wing said: "The water charges increase will affect industries across board while the impact on small units will be severe. Industry's need for water has gone up manifold due to advanced cooling systems that many units are using".

It will be worse for manufacturing units, as they require more water. The MIDC, which is in charge of water supply in the industrial area, does not allow digging of bore wells by the units", he added.

President of Maharashtra Economic Development Council M N Chaini said, "Already water charges in Maharashtra are high compared to other states and industry was demanding a reduction".

This will definitely affect the competitiveness of the industries in Maharashtra, Chaini said. President of BJP state unit's agricultural cell and MP, Raosaheb Danve said, "Government is announcing packages for farmers on one hand and on the other hand it is taking away what it is claiming to have given to farmers".

This is going to increase the farmer's input cost in two ways, firstly a direct in his water bill and secondly a hike in his power bill, which will be caused by hydro-power producing companies, he added.

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