Agricultural Groundwater Management in Andhra Pradesh, India: A Focus on Free Electricity Policy and its Reform

Kondepati, R. (2011) Agricultural Groundwater Management in Andhra Pradesh, India: A Focus on Free Electricity Policy and its Reform. Water Resources Development,, 27 (2). pp. 375-386.

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Abstract

The impact of the free electricity policy on agriculture in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), India, is the main focus of this work. It is assumed that this policy has a very high political currency and there is, therefore, a difficultly in recalling it in the short-term. In this context, plausible reforms to this policy are explored with an objective to weed out the inefficiencies in this subsidy regime in the context of groundwater extraction and utilization. These reforms are aimed at reducing the ambit of beneficiaries of this subsidy based on their affordability and increasing the water productivity of agriculture in the state. Some examples exclude large farmers from this policy, offering free electricity conditional upon adopting the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) or adopting micro-irrigation or shifting cropping patterns. These alternate policies are evaluated based on the impact on groundwater extraction, fiscal costs, equity, political feasibility, issues in implementation etc. Finally, it is suggested that the government offers free electricity conditional upon adopting water-efficient cropping practices such as the SRI as a short-term step for increasing the effectiveness of this policy and mitigating its adverse impact on groundwater extraction.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Agricultural Groundwater Management, Free Electricity Policy, Water productivity, Agriculture
Author Affiliation: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Subjects: Agricultural Engineering
Divisions: General
Depositing User: Mr B Krishnamurthy
Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2016 09:44
Last Modified: 02 Sep 2016 09:44
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2011.564971
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/14376

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