Electricity to cost more in UP, tariff hiked up to 12 pc

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission on Tuesday approved up to 12 per cent hike in power tariff for different categories of power consumers.

The Regulatory Commission has approved a hike of 8 to 12 per cent in power tariffs. Similarly, the Industrial Sector category will have to shell out more money due to the in the range of 5-10 per cent.

The electricity tariffs have also hiked in the urban and rural areas.

However, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati strongly condemned the new electricity tariff hike and lambasted the BJP for approving the hike in rates.

"It is a completely anti-people decision by the Uttar Pradesh BJP government to approve the hike in electricity rates. This will increase the burden of inflation on crores of people, especially the toiling masses of the state, and their lives will be more painful. It would be better if the government immediately reconsiders it," Mayawati tweeted.

Retorting to Mayawati's tweet, Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma in a series of tweet attacked the former government and said as a result of SP-BSP that the electricity companies suffered huge losses.

"Sister Mayawati Ji, it was the sins of SP-BSP that corruption increased and power companies went into huge losses. During the tenure of the SP-BSP, rates were only increasing. During the tenure of the BJP, the rates were reduced and the hours of electricity supply increased," Sharma wrote in a tweet.

Launching a sharp attack on Mayawati-led BSP, Sharma further went on saying that some categories of electricity rates had to be raised due to economic irregularities of the former governments.

"The government has kept the poor free from rising rates. Due to economic irregularities of former governments, some categories of electricity rates had to be increased partially," Sharma wrote in another tweet.

Sharma further said that now the electricity supply has been extended to many districts but earlier only desired districts used to get electricity supply.

"Now electricity is being supplied to 24 districts, 20 to tehsil and 18 hours to villages. The former governments had no roster. Electricity was only available to the desired districts," Sharma tweeted.

Last but not the least attack made by Sharma on the former government, on his Twitter handle asserted the unit's electricity that is supplied now as compared to the previous years.

"The peak demand in 2016-17 was 16,500 Megawatt (MW). Which the former government was unable to fulfil. Now the demand for 21,950 MW is being met. The capacity of the grid is being increased. Rapid work is being done on changing the dilapidated line of 66,320 km," Sharma tweeted.