Assistance to General Farmers for Sinking Tubewell

What is the tubewell subsidy for general farmers in Puducherry?

Assistance to General Farmers for Sinking Tubewell is a groundwater irrigation subsidy of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Territory of Puducherry. The Department grants a 65% subsidy towards the construction of a tubewell or filter point, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,50,000 per tubewell or filter point per individual. The Standard Operating Procedure states that the total cost incurred on constructing the tubewell is what the subsidy percentage is calculated against.

The scheme is one half of a pair. Scheduled Caste farmers claim at a higher rate, 90% up to Rs 1,80,000, under a separate notification; every other farmer claims here. A second, linked pair of schemes covers the pumpset that goes into the completed well, at 65% up to Rs 50,000 for general farmers and 90% up to Rs 60,000 for Scheduled Caste farmers. In practice a farmer sinking a new well applies under both the construction scheme and the pumpset scheme.

Groundwater in Puducherry is a regulated resource, not a free one. Every new or replacement tubewell requires a permit from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, and the Department will not entertain a subsidy claim on a well that did not go through that process. This makes the scheme as much a regulatory instrument as a support measure: it steers farmers towards permitted, registered, supervised wells drilled by licensed rigs, and away from the unrecorded borewell.

Who is eligible for the general category tubewell subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are a general category farmer in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• You have obtained the permit to sink a new or replacement tubewell or filter point from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
• The tubewell was constructed either through departmental power rig or hand bore set, or with a No Objection Certificate from the Agriculture Department for engaging private drilling machinery registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, under departmental supervision.
• You hold a minimum of 1.5 acres under the command area of the tubewell to be constructed, with a clear ownership title deed, owned for at least two years. The eligible 1.5 acres may stand in your name, your spouse's name, or in the name of a member of your joint or undivided family.
• The casing pipes carry a BIS certificate and were purchased from an authorised dealer or from M/s PASIC Ltd.
• You are willing to execute a bond not to convert the land to any purpose other than agriculture for 10 years from the date of construction.

You cannot apply if:

• You drilled without a permit from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, or used an unregistered private rig, or drilled outside departmental supervision without an NOC.
• Your holding under the command area is below 1.5 acres, or the title is unclear, or you have owned it for less than two years.
• You have already availed this subsidy for the same purpose within the last five years.
• Your casing pipes lack BIS certification or were bought outside the authorised dealer network or PASIC.
• You will not execute the 10-year non-conversion bond.
• You are a Scheduled Caste farmer, you are not eligible under this scheme, but you are entitled to the higher 90% rate up to Rs 1,80,000 under the parallel Scheduled Caste scheme, so file there instead.

How much is paid, and how is it worked out?

The Department pays 65% of the total cost incurred on constructing the tubewell or filter point, capped at Rs 1,50,000 per tubewell per individual. This is a back-ended subsidy: the farmer meets the full cost, completes the work under departmental supervision, and then claims against original bills.

Where the work was financed by a bank loan, the claim is supported by attested copies of the original bills plus a certificate from the bank to that effect, and the subsidy is settled against the loan account. Where the farmer met the cost from personal funds, the amount is released to the farmer's own account.

A departmental committee verifies the claim before release. For the Puducherry region the committee comprises the Head of Office, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation; the Deputy Director (Agricultural Engineering) in charge of drilling machinery; and the Agricultural Officer (Engineering) in charge of drilling machinery. For the Karaikal region it comprises the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal; the Deputy Director (Agricultural Engineering), Karaikal; and the Agricultural Officer (Engineering) in charge of the subsidy scheme. The committee examines the vouchers and bills submitted to ascertain their genuineness and recommends release. Final approval of beneficiaries rests with the Joint Director or Additional Director (Agricultural Engineering).

What documents are required?

How to apply for the tubewell subsidy

1. Obtain the permit first. Apply to the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry for the mandatory permit to construct a new or replacement tubewell or filter point. Nothing that follows works without it.
2. Choose the drilling route. Applicants in the Puducherry region who want the well drilled with departmental machinery should approach the concerned office. Applicants using private machinery must approach that office for a No Objection Certificate, and the private rig must be registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
3. Drill under supervision. The Agricultural Officer (Engineering) inspects during construction to record the specification of the pipes and other materials used. That record is later matched against your bills, so a well drilled without the inspection is very hard to claim on.
4. Collect the prescribed application form after the work is finished. In the Puducherry region, from the Office of the Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009. In the Karaikal region, from the Office of the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. The form can also be downloaded from agri.py.gov.in.
5. Complete the form, paste the passport-sized photograph, sign across it where required, and attach the land ownership certificate from the Deputy Tahsildar or above, the Ground Water Authority permit and registration or energisation letter, the NOC and rig licence if private machinery was used, the original bills, and copies of the Aadhaar card, Farmers Identity Card and bank passbook front page.
6. Submit within 90 days of the date of completion of the construction work, to the same office. This deadline is stated in the SOP and applied strictly.
7. Collect the acknowledgement. The office enters the application in its receipt register and assigns a unique seniority number that identifies your file in all further references and doubles as your acknowledgement.
8. Execute the bond committing to 10 years of continued agricultural use, before the subsidy is released.

How to apply online through the e-District portal

1. Visit edistrict.py.gov.in and click Login at the top right of the home page, then Register a New Membership.
2. Complete the registration page — username, password, full name, email address, current address, gender, date of birth and mobile number: agree to the declaration, enter the captcha and click Signup.
3. Log in with your username, password and captcha. The dashboard lists Government of Puducherry schemes department-wise.
4. Open this scheme under the Department of Agriculture to reach its online application form, complete every field marked with a red asterisk, and upload the mandatory documents, self-attested where required.
5. Tick the declaration that the details are true and correct, submit, and note the application number, which is also sent to your registered mobile number and email.
6. Follow the file on the Track Application page at edistrict.py.gov.in/User/TrackApplication.aspx.

How do I check my application status?

Offline applicants quote the unique seniority number and follow up with the State Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady, or the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. Because sanctions are released against a fixed annual allocation, the seniority number is also a practical indicator of your position in the queue. Online applicants track by application number on the e-District portal. The Department publishes tentative beneficiary lists for social audit before finalising them, so watching the notices at the responsible office is worthwhile.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• Filed beyond the 90-day window after completion of construction. Diarise the completion date the moment drilling finishes.
• No permit from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, or drilling done by an unregistered rig, or private drilling without an NOC.
• Command area under 1.5 acres, title not clear, or ownership held for less than two years.
• Casing pipes without BIS certification, or bought outside the authorised dealer network or PASIC. Keep the dealer's invoice and the BIS marking evidence.
• Bills not produced in original, or, in loan cases, attested copies filed without the accompanying bank certificate.
• Repeat claim inside the five-year bar.
• Bond not executed, which holds up release even on an otherwise complete file.
• Wrong scheme. Scheduled Caste applicants who file here instead of under the 90% scheme lose the higher entitlement.

Where to raise a grievance

The Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit, Agricultural Complex, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009 is the Department's published public grievance officer for this scheme and can be reached on 0413-2240908. The Director of Agriculture can be contacted on 0413-2336977 or by email at diragri[dot]py[at]gov[dot]in, and the Additional Director (Agricultural Engineering) on 0413-2224625.

Karaikal applicants should approach the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal, on 04368-230679. The Department's citizen's charter, grievance redress note and list of responsibility centres are published on agri.py.gov.in. No fee is charged for the application form or for registration under this scheme.