BJP slams HP govt for hike in power tariff

State unit of BJP has criticised the government for steep hike in power tariff, saying it has burdened 18 lakh domestic consumers with over Rs 500 crore.
"For the first time, power tariff has been hiked by 70 paise per unit and even domestic consumers have not been spared," party spokesman Ganesh Dutt said.
He accused the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) of unilaterally announcing the tariff order without inviting objections or suggestions from the people.
Dutt said the tariff for domestic consumers has been increased from Rs 3.69 per unit to Rs 4.28 per unit, for industrial consumers, it has been hiked from Rs 4.76 per unit to Rs 5.50 per unit while commercial consumers would have to pay Rs 5.95 per unit instead of Rs 5.25 per unit at present which was a huge burden on consumers.

However, he did not take into account the subsidy announced by the government.
Dutt claimed that the Congress government had failed to give any relief to people during its four months rule and hike in power tariff was "first gift of the government to the people".
He also alleged that the government was purchasing costly luxury cars when existing cars were in good condition, and asked it to refrain from indulging in "wasteful and avoidable" expenditure.