Chandigarh, May 16:
Punjab Power Minister Mr. Harbhajan Singh ETO today assured that new electricity tariff will not affect on the common people of the state as the cost of increased electricity rates will be borne by the state government.
The power minister said that power tariff in many states is very high, while the rates in Punjab are lower than other states. The power minister said, there was no increase in electricity rates during the last one year. He said that sometimes coal has to be imported due to union government policies. Similarly, the costs of installing new transformers are increasing.
The cabinet minister reiterated, free power to farmers, subsidized power tariff industry and 600 units free electricity for domestic consumers will continue as of earlier. Power subsidy will continue and no scheme will be stopped, he added.
Lashing out at opposition parties, the cabinet minister said that the previous dispensations used to increase the power rates several times in a year, while our government has slightly increased the tariff after one year, which will not affect the free power scheme. He said, rather our government is consistently working to strengthen the electricity department by continuously recruiting employees and providing pay scales to new employees.
