Shimla, Sep 11 (Representative) Leader of the Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday said that the decision of the stat government to hike the industrial power tariff would increase prices of steel and cement in the state.In a statement here, Mr Thakur said that by increasing the electricity tariff by one-and-a-half times, the state government would burden operation of the industrial units in the state. Under the new rates, the electricity duty for industries falling under HT (High Tension) has been increased from 11 percent to 19 percent, while for EHT (Extreme High Tension) industries it has been increased from 13 percent to 19 percent.Electricity duty on small and medium industries has been increased from 11 percent to 17 percent. Electricity duty on cement plants has been increased from 17 percent to 25 percent. Not only this, electricity duty at the rate of 45 paise per unit has also been imposed on electricity generation by DG (diesel generator) sets and the exemption given in electricity duty on captive generation and green energy has also been withdrawn. The former Chief Minister said that to promote industries in the state, the previous BJP government had made a policy of giving concession in electricity for five years on the basis of various electricity usage.
The Leader of Opposition said that due to the increase in electricity duty, the prices of cement and iron will also become expensive in the state. He said that before this, the Sukhu government had already put the burden on the people by increasing electricity, water, garbage collection and property tax. As soon as it came to power, the government talked about changing the system and started putting burden on people’s pockets. Those who found electricity, water, diesel, everything expensive in the BJP government they used to come on the streets and protest every day. He said that it is not right in any way to increase the burden of direct or indirect inflation on the people of the state even during the time of disaster.
Thakur said that state also decided to do away the concession given by the previous government to encourage setting up of new industries in the state. To help industrialists after Covid pandemic, the previous BJP government had provided impetus and some concessions to the industries for a stipulated time. He warned that drastic measures by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government would be forced the industries to move out from the state.”It was a promise of previous Government to provide cheapest power which have attracted number of industries in the country to stay and bring new Investment but industrial units are getting most expensive electricity in the state”… Thousands of people get direct employment in the state. Apart from this, many types of opportunities are available. “The development of the state cannot be imagined without industries but the government wants to destroy the industries in the state. The work is being done in a planned manner to destroy the industries in the state and send them out of the state. The former Chief Minister said that such decisions of the government are creating a feeling of economic insecurity in the industries, while on the other hand, the fearless mafia system is scaring the industrialists.