The Bihar government said on Thursday that it was not possible to reduce power tariff in the State on the lines of the Aam Aadmi Party’s move in Delhi.
“The power rates in Bihar are anyway low at Rs. 2 to Rs.2.25 per unit. Moreover, only 11 per cent of the State is urbanised. There are talks of rate and quality of power, but for us the priority is to make power available. So Bihar is not in a position to slash rates,” State Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said at a press conference in Patna.
The AAP effect has been felt in other States. Recently, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam demanded the Congress-led Maharashtra government to reduce power tariffs.
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In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has reportedly promised that he would not seek votes in the next State Assembly polls if he is unable to provide power to the rural areas.
With an estimated spending of about Rs. 25,000 crore on power, the Bihar government expects to provide 3,000 megawatt of power by the end of 2014, as opposed to the 2,400 MW of power availability at the close of last year.