Mumbai: Farmers owe the Maharashtra exchequer Rs 17,000 crore in the form of outstanding power bills for the agriculture pump sets, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today told the Legislative Assembly.

Fadnavis also said though the government had initiated the process to recover the pending dues, it has stopped the drive temporarily taking into consideration various hardships being faced by the farmers.

"The state government was directed by the MERC (Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission) to recover the amount from farmers and the process had begun. However, considering the hardships faced by the farmers, the recovery process has been stayed," the chief minister said.

Fadnavis was responding toNCP leader Ajit Pawar's charge that electricity connections of farmers were being disconnected and that the government was "unjust" to the farmerswho have not been able to pay the power bills.

He demanded that the process to disconnect the electricity connections should be stopped.