Bangalore: Shock Treatment - Energy Minister Signals Power Tariff Hike
Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Jun 30: State energy minister, Shobha Karandlaje, said that the government proposes to increase power tariff to pass the burden caused by the rise in the prices of coal at global level, and the commitment to supply free power to farmers. “The price of coal is registering an alarming increase in international market with each passing day. The cost of power production is going up, and demand for power is also escalating,” she explained. The minister gave this information to journalists after inking a pact with National Thermal Power Corporation for supply of 100 mega watts of wind energy.
It may be recalled that the power tariff was hiked recently, even after the people showed lot of resentment against it. This will be another bolt from the blue for the people from the state, whose pockets have already been bombarded with revised prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene, apart from bus fare.
The minister revealed that all the electricity supply companies in the state have already approached Karnataka State Electricity Regulatory Commission, with a plea to hike power tariff uniformly by 88 paise per unit. The commission is processing these requests, and the hike might be affected soon, she added.
Shobha blamed the centre for delaying its nod for the state government’s ambitious power projects at Yaramaras, Yadlapur, Chhatisgarh, and Bellary. She said that this delay is contributing to aggravate power woes in the state, and hoped that the power shortage will be a thing of the past once these projects get clearance from the union government.
She also squarely accused the union government of not supplying enough coal to the state. “The central government is meting out step motherly treatment to the state, and our repeated pleas are being overlooked,” Shobha claimed.