In a major relief to coffee planters, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced in the Legislative Assembly that electricity will be given free of cost for up to 10 HP pump sets owned by planters in Karnataka.
For farmers, Karnataka has been giving free power for irrigation pumps sets up to 10 HP, with a mandatory installation of electric meters to quantify power consumption.
Earlier, during zero hour, members belonging to the coffee belt in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts demanded free power for pump sets. Not all coffee growers are rich and many small growers are not able to pay the electricity bills, said C.T. Ravi, K.G. Bopanna, Apachhu Ranjan and M.P. Kumaraswamy (all BJP), A.T. Ramaswamy and H.K. Kumaraswamy (JD-S).