Withdraw hike in power tariff: Shabbir Ali
Hyderabad, March 28 (INN): Deputy CLP leader in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned the hike in power tariff in Telangana State.
Addressing a press conference at Congress Legislature Party office here on Saturday, Shabbir Ali said that the power hike was announced while the Appropriation Bill was being debated in the Legislative Council on Friday. As predicted by the Congress party after the presentation of Rs 1.15 lakh crore budget for 2015-16, the State Government has begun imposing a burden of more than Rs 20,000 crore. The additional burden of Rs 816 crore through hike in power tariff was just the beginning and people should be prepared to face similar hike in various sectors in the next two months.
Shabbir Ali said that the hike in power tariff could not be justified. It would not only affect the common man, but also slow down the industrial process. The industries will move towards other States if Telangana Government fails to offer them a competitive price. Instead of giving them more incentives, the TRS Government is scaring away the industries by affecting power hikes. He said the hike in industrial tariff would consequently lead to rise in unemployment.
During its 10-year rule from 2004-13, the then Congress Government increased the power tariff only once during the regime of Kiran Kumar Reddy. While maintaining a balanced tariff, the Congress Government took measures to boost the generation and started several power projects. He said that the Telangana is likely to get nearly Rs 2,800 MW of power this year only due to the initiatives taken by previous Congress Government. He said instead of ensuring proper maintenance of infrastructure created by the previous government and taking measures to upgrade the same, the TRS Government is finding new ways and means to burden the common people.
Shabbir Ali demanded that the State Government absorb the hike by giving a subsidy of Rs 816 crore. He said giving additional power subsidy should not be a problem for the TRS Government, as Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao himself has claimed that Telangana is a rich and revenue surplus State.
He also informed that the Congress party would a decision on future course of action on power tariff hike on Sunday.
News Posted: 28 March, 2015
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