Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday justified the hike in power tariff being sought by the Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) in the State. “The power tariff revision has become inevitable to overcome the losses being incurred by the Escoms,” Mr. Siddaramaiah told reporters after holding the Janata Darshan at the Government guesthouse here.
The Escoms had submitted proposals to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) seeking its nod for revising the tariff. Accordingly, the commission, after studying the proposals, had given its nod for the revision. The extent of revision in tariff will be decided by the commission, Mr. Siddaramaiah explained.
The Chief Minister described the former Minister Shobha Karandlaje’s claims over the proposed power tariff revision and charges of a rift between him and Minister for Energy D.K. Shivakumar as baseless. “There are no differences between me and Shivakumar,” he said.
Replying to a query on Cabinet expansion, Mr. Siddaramaiah said: “A decision on this will be announced only after consultations with the party high command,” he said. He said the State’s financial position had improved under the Congress government and expressed confidence of further improving the financial status in the years ahead. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Congress government will be completing one year in office on Tuesday. He said he was satisfied with his government’s performance.
