Mine auction to ensure cheaper power: Jaitley

Says subsidising electricity is unsustainable

February 18, 2015 01:56 am | Updated November 16, 2021 05:15 pm IST - New Delhi:

Arun Jaitley and Arvind Panagariya atthe valedictory session of Re-Invest 2015 in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Arun Jaitley and Arvind Panagariya atthe valedictory session of Re-Invest 2015 in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Drawing a comparison with the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) promise of subsidised power, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday that the Modi government’s policy of reverse auctioning coal mines was much more in the interest of the country as it ensured cheaper electricity to the common man in a sustained manner.

Addressing global investors at a conference Re-Invest 2015, Mr. Jaitley said, without naming the AAP: “One way by which people want to provide cheaper electricity is by the state subsidising it… A state subsidy really means that you will have to tax people more in order to provide something free to some other people… Is that a sustainable cause?”

The Finance Minister then argued, “Or is the process we are following… in reverse bidding, the cost of power is going to be linked with the rate at which you get the fuel… it is [a] far more sustainable policy and much more in the interest of this country.”

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi on Monday issued directions to its finance and power departments seeking proposals for the implementation of its key pre-poll promise of slashing power tariff in the capital by 50 per cent.

Mr. Jaitley said India was better placed to offer opportunities to investors.

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