Mumbai: The state government has imposed an electricity surcharge of 10 paise per unit on industrial and commercial consumers to finance its scheme to provide 25,000 solar pumps to farmers, a senior official said on Sunday.

In view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls next year, state energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule had recently announced that farmers would be provided one lakh solar pumps in three phases between 2019 and 2021, of which 25,000 would be given in the first phase.

Arvind Singh, principal secretary in the state energy department said, “The total expense of the scheme is Rs 825 crore, and since the state has no resources, we have decided to collect funds by applying an electricity surcharge,” he said.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company has applied a 10 paise per unit surcharge from November 1.