lashing out at the SAD-BJP government in Punjab for “exorbitant” power tariff hike announced in its tenure, the Union Minister and ludhiana MP Manish Tewari on Friday said that the government has failed to generate a single megawatt of energy.
“Akali-BJP Government has increased the power tariff in the state by about 70 per cent during the last six years and it has not added a single extra unit of power,” the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said in a statement.
“Of late the power tariff in Punjab has become oppressively exorbitant with common man being made to pay through the nose,” said Tewari, while raising questions over the transparency in the state’s power tariff policy.
Expressing concern over the regularly inflated power bills across the state, Tewari said that the Punjab State Power Corporation limited (PSPCl) has been imposing “unexplained” and “arbitrary” tariff and other charges on the helpless consumers who do not have any option but to pay their bills.
Tewari added that several domestic consumers have received electricity bills which are more than their monthly income.
Several small and medium scale industrial units are on the brink of closure only because they are not in a position to pay their electricity bills, he added.