No hike in power tariff, govt to bear Rs 120 cr burden: Goa CM

In May 2020, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission had recommended a 5.31 per cent hike in power tariff over the Goa Electricity department’s proposed hike of 3.84 per cent.

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Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant

Six months before the Assembly elections, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Wednesday announced that the government would not implement a power tariff hike this year. “There will be an additional burden of Rs 120 crore on the government to ensure that there is no increase in power tariff. The cabinet has approved it,” Sawant told reporters Wednesday.

In May 2020, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission had recommended a 5.31 per cent hike in power tariff over the Goa Electricity department’s proposed hike of 3.84 per cent. This was yet to be implemented.

The decision to hold off on a hike comes after AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s poll promise of free electricity of up to 300 units per household every month.
Kejriwal Wednesday congratulated the people of Goa, calling the government move their “victory”. “Together with the people of Goa, ‘AAP’ fought. As a result, the Goa government today gave a subsidy to stop an increase in power tariff. Without a single MLA, ‘AAP’ stopped the power tariff hike. Appeal to the people of Goa – Change the government, we will make power free,” Kejriwal wrote in a tweet in Hindi.

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The Goa Chief Minister also announced that the cabinet had approved the transfer of 14,661 sq m of land under other government departments including the Water Resources Department, to the Public Works Department for the construction of the Mopa Express Highway in North Goa. He said that the government had asked the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to plant 5 lakh trees around the under-construction Mopa International Airport located in Pernem.

On August 15, the chief minister had also announced that by independence day in 2022, the airport shall be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sawant also announced that his cabinet had approved the bulletproofing of two vehicles of the Goa Police at a cost of Rs 65.9 lakh.

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