While the Maharashtra government had earlier said it was planning to reduce power tariff in Mumbai city, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday passed the buck to the power supply companies.
A day after his meeting with the representatives of Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, and the State-run BEST, he said the companies will have to take the final decision. “The discussion was positive and as the government we expect uniform tariff rates across the State. But we have asked the companies to provide us the roadmap for future,” Mr. Chavan told reporters.
A month ago, the State government had announced a 20 per cent power tariff cut across Maharashtra, barring Mumbai. The announcement followed the Aam Aadmi Party's promise to reduce tariff's in Delhi. Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam had demanded similar cuts in Mumbai and had even gone on a hunger strike.
Reacting to the developments, Mr. Nirupam said that he will not rest until the power tariff is reduced in Mumbai. “Mr. Chavan had told me that the issue is complicated, but will be solved. The upcoming elections may stop our agitations for a while but we will continue to press our demands,” he told The Hindu.
Meanwhile in its interim budget presented on Tuesday, the government made a financial provision of Rs. 9,000 crores for the 20 per cent tariff cut it had announced. The tariff cut applies to commercial, industrial, agricultural and power-loom consumers across the state, barring Mumbai.
