Many industries in Haryana slapped with hefty power bills: Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday claimed that many industries in the state were being slapped with hefty power bills at a time when their businesses had remained shut.

The Centre has announced an economic package for the revival of the micro, small and medium enterprises, but average households, small businesses, hotels, eateries and industrial units "have all being pushed into financial distress because of large electricity bills in the name of fixed charges," Hooda said.

The leader of Opposition in the Assembly said several industry organisations had raised the issue of hefty electricity bills at a time when their businesses were shut.

"Businesses are already facing serious financial losses due to the lockdown and, instead of giving them relief, the government is slapping them with hefty bills which, in some cases, are even more than what they used to get when their units were running," he said.

The Congress leader demanded that the government should provide immediate relief in such cases so that businesses can start functioning again and not burden them with high power bills.

He claimed that the government had woken up to pressure from the Opposition on the release of the tubewell connections.

"But they have gone back on their promise of giving 6,200 connections and are now giving only 4,000 connections," he said. "More than 84,000 farmers had applied for the tubewell connections."