Assistance to General Farmers for Installation of Submersible / Centrifugal Motor Pumpsets With Accessories

What is the pumpset subsidy for general farmers in Puducherry?

Assistance to General Farmers for Installation of Submersible / Centrifugal Motor Pumpsets With Accessories is an irrigation subsidy of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Territory of Puducherry. The scheme pays a 65% subsidy up to Rs 50,000 towards installing a suitable submersible or centrifugal motor pumpset, with accessories, on a registered tubewell.

The scheme is one of a linked pair. Scheduled Caste farmers claim a higher rate, 90% up to Rs 60,000, under a separate notification; everyone else claims here. Both appear on the Department's own scheme listing at agri.py.gov.in under Farm Mechanization and Micro Irrigation, alongside subsidies for constructing the tubewell itself, for laying underground pipelines and for micro-irrigation systems.

Groundwater in Puducherry is regulated. Every tubewell needs a permit and a registration from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, and the pumpset subsidy is only released on a tubewell that has been through that process. The scheme is therefore as much a compliance instrument as a support measure: it channels farmers towards permitted, registered, metered wells.

How much subsidy is paid and in what form?

The Department pays:

• 65% of the cost of a suitable submersible or centrifugal motor pumpset with accessories
• subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000 per tubewell per individual

Payment follows the financing route:

• Self-financed construction. The subsidy is released through the Electronic Clearing System (ECS) to the farmer's bank account.
• Bank-financed construction — where the farmer took a loan from a nationalised bank or a co-operative bank towards the tubewell, the subsidy is remitted to the bank against the loan account of the beneficiary.

The subsidy is back-ended in both cases. The farmer pays the full cost first, then claims. No advance or part payment is made before the work is complete and inspected.

Who is eligible for the general category pumpset subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are from the General Category.
• You are a farmer in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The tubewell on which the pumpset is to be erected is registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry.
• You hold a minimum of 1.5 acres under the command area of the tubewell, with a clear ownership title deed in your name, held for at least two years. The eligible holding may stand in your name, your spouse's name, or in the name of a member of a joint or undivided family.
• You agree to execute a bond not to convert the land to any purpose other than agriculture for 10 years from the date of construction of the tubewell or filter point.

You cannot apply if:

• You have already availed this subsidy for the same purpose within the previous five years.
• Your holding under the command area is less than 1.5 acres, or the title is not clear, or ownership is shorter than two years.
• The tubewell is not registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, or lacks a permit or energisation certificate.
• You will not execute the 10-year non-conversion bond or the notarised affidavit.
• You are a Scheduled Caste farmer. You are not eligible here, but you are eligible for the higher 90% rate under the parallel Scheduled Caste scheme, so apply under that one instead.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the general farmers pumpset subsidy

1. Get the permit first. Obtain the mandatory permit for construction of a new or replacement tubewell from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry.
2. Choose your drilling route. Applicants in the Puducherry region who want the tubewell constructed with departmental machinery should approach the concerned office. Applicants using private machinery must obtain a No Objection Certificate from that office, and the private rig must itself be registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
3. Construct the tubewell under supervision. The Agricultural Officer (Engineering) inspects during construction to record the specification of pipes and other materials used, which is later matched against your bills.
4. Collect the prescribed application form after completion, from the Office of the Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, or, in the Karaikal region, from the Office of the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal.
5. Complete the form, paste the photograph, and attach self-attested copies of the land ownership certificate, ground water authority documents, original bills, Aadhaar, Farmers Identity Card and bank passbook page.
6. Submit within 90 days of completing the construction work. The office enters the application in its receipt register and issues a unique seniority number that serves as both your identifier and your acknowledgement.
7. File the notarised affidavit on selection, before the subsidy is released.

How to apply online through the Puducherry e-District portal

1. Visit edistrict.py.gov.in and click Login at the top right corner.
2. Click Register a New Membership and complete the registration form with your username, password, full name, email address, address, gender, date of birth and mobile number. Agree to the declaration, enter the captcha and click Signup.
3. Log in with the credentials you created. The dashboard lists Government of Puducherry schemes department-wise.
4. Open this scheme under the Department of Agriculture to reach its online application form.
5. Complete every field marked with a red asterisk and upload the mandatory documents, self-attested where required.
6. Tick the declaration confirming the details are true and correct, then submit. Note the application number displayed; it is also sent to your registered mobile number and email address.
7. Use the portal's Track Application page to follow the file.

How do I check the status of my application?

Offline applicants quote the unique seniority number and follow up with the State Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady, or with the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. Online applicants use the application number on the e-District Track Application page. Because sanctions are released against a fixed annual allocation, the seniority number is a practical indicator of where your file stands in the queue.

The Department also publishes advertisements inviting applications in local leading Tamil dailies, so watching those notices is a reliable way to know when a fresh round has opened.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Filed beyond the 90-day window after completion of construction. This deadline is applied strictly.
• No permit or registration from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, or an unregistered private rig used for drilling.
• Command area below 1.5 acres, unclear title, or ownership held for under two years.
• Bills not in original, or, in loan cases, no bank certificate accompanying the attested copies.
• Repeat claim inside the five-year bar.
• Affidavit not furnished after selection, which holds up release even on an otherwise complete file.
• Wrong scheme. Scheduled Caste applicants filing here rather than under the 90% scheme lose the higher entitlement.

If the applicant is later found to have breached the affidavit by selling, mortgaging, transferring or converting the land within 10 years, the Government may initiate legal action and recover or cancel the subsidy.

Where to raise a grievance

Contact the Director of Agriculture, Puducherry on 0413-2336977 or by email at diragri[dot]py[at]gov[dot]in. The State Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady, which handles the tubewell and pumpset components, can be reached on 0413-2240908, 0413-2251644 or 0413-2251641. Karaikal applicants should contact the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal, on 04368-230679.

The Department's citizen's charter, grievance redressal note and list of responsibility centres are all published on agri.py.gov.in. No fee is charged for the application form or for registration under this scheme.