Karnataka   

Kumaraswamy slams Karnataka power board

Staff Correspondent

Not hiking power tariff an attempt to liquidate ESCOMs

HASSAN: Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who criticised the decision of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) to reduce power tariff for rural consumers, including industries and commercial establishments by 10 to 20 paise per unit and to spare the urban users from the increase, said here on Tuesday that this would have a negative impact on electricity supply companies (ESCOMs).

He termed it an "indirect attempt by KERC to liquidate the ESCOMS."

Mr. Kumaraswamy took serious objection to the KERC decision to the reduce average price of a unit of power from Rs. 3.56 to Rs. 3.20 and suspected political motive behind the tariff relief.

He said the KERC had taken a "unilateral decision" without consulting Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) and ESCOMs.

He sought to know how to supply power without adequate income.

"It is a severe blow to the attempts of Minister for Energy H.D. Revanna to improve power supply situation in the State," he said.

Setback for farmers

Chitra V. Ramani reports from Bangalore:

A senior official of BESCOM told The Hindu on Tuesday that the company had asked permission of KERC to purchase 19,197.45 million units of power from various sources. The KERC had allowed it to purchase only 16,908 million units. "This translates into more power cuts. We have a growth of at least 7 per cent every year and that has not been taken into consideration," he said.

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