Roll Back Power Tariff Hike Or Face Massive Stir, BRS Tells Govt

HYDERABAD: The BRS on Tuesday demanded that the state government immediately withdraw the decision to increase electricity charges and of a public movement if it went ahead to impose an additional burden of ₹5,420 crore on the people as increased electricity rates.

Senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao said that after pushing the power sector into a crisis and financial difficulties, the Congress government was set to force consumers to pay for its mistakes. “This is nothing but the complete failure of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Why should consumers pay ₹5,420 crore for the government’s failures in managing the power sector,” he asked.

He recalled that during the BRS government, the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission had proposed true-up charges of ₹12,718.4 crore for the period from 2016-17 to 2021-22. “KCR did not pass the burden on to consumers. But today, the Congress government is trying to impose a huge burden on people,” Harish Rao said at a news conference.

While the BRS government took Telangana from a power-deficit state to a state capable of supplying quality power to all sectors and ensured farmers got 24-hour free power, the Congress government has turned the clock back, with poor power production and extensive power cuts every day, Harish Rao said.