Highlighting drawbacks in providing free power to farmers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday government cannot continue to subsidise the economic and commercial use of water.
"Providing free power to farmers has encouraged excessive use of pump sets and excessive drawing of ground water. If there is economic pricing of power, there would be some incentive for conserving ground water," he said inaugurating the National Congress on Ground Water in New Delhi.
Water conservation and management could be better served through appropriate incentives and penalties, Singh said adding, 'we cannot continue to subsidise the economic and commercial use of water.'
"There are related policies that must be corrected