Bhupinder Singh Hooda: Extra burden of 52 paise per unit of power a blow to people in Haryana
According to the officials, the FSA has been imposed for a period of over one year in lieu of the arrangement of electricity from private players through short-term agreements during the summer season of 2022.
2 min read
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Facebook) Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday said that the state government has dealt a severe blow to the middle class by imposing an additional burden of 52 paise per unit per billing cycle on the electricity consumers as a fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA).
According to the officials, the FSA has been imposed for a period of over one year – from April 1, 2023, to June 2024 – in lieu of the arrangement of electricity from private players through short-term agreements during the summer season of 2022. An official said: “The consumers of agriculture sector and the consumers of up to 200 units of power per month will be exempted from the FSA.”
Explaining the impact of the imposition of FSA on electricity consumers, Hooda said: “A typical household consuming up to 600 units of power per month will now have to pay additional charges of Rs 300 per month.”
He alleged: “The general public are being made to suffer to benefit private companies. Haryana was to get electricity from a private company at the rate of 2.94 paise per unit for 25 years under a power purchase agreement signed during the Congress tenure. But in the last summer season, the company refused to provide electricity. Instead of taking legal action against the company, the government bought expensive power from outside.”
The former chief minister said that during the Congress tenure, four power plants were established. He said approval for another power plant of 660 units in Yamunanagar was also granted during the Congress government. “But for the past over eight years, the BJP government kept this project hanging in midair. Instead of setting up a new power plant, the present government stopped the already-established plants and increased the dependence on private companies,” he added.
Hooda said: “The Congress government in Haryana had continuously reduced electricity rates during its rule of nearly 10 years and had given electricity to farmers at 10 paise per unit, which was the cheapest rate in the country. Not only this, the historic step of waiving the electricity bill of Rs 1,600 crore was taken during the Congress government.”
You May Like
