VIJAYAWADA: Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy has said that the State government has not proposed any hike in the power tariff despite a huge revenue deficit owing to COVID-19 crisis and the poor financial health of the Discoms, and added that the government would take steps to strengthen the energy sector. He said that the government did not propose any hike in power tariff as its objective was to provide “affordable, qualitative and reliable” power supply to the people.
“The people elected a pro-public government in the State. We always take decisions keeping the public interests in mind. We want to strengthen the power utilities under the public sector and increase public participation. Our objective is to provide quality, reliable, secure and affordable 24 hours power supply to all domestic, commercial and industrial consumers and 9-hours free power supply to the farming community during daytime,” the minister was quoted as saying in a department’s statement on Sunday.
Despite the financial constraints, the government will not compromise on protecting the interests of consumers, the minister said after unveiling the logo of the AP State Energy Conservation Mission. The government has directed power utilities to focus on modernising the electricity power systems essential to provide the best services to consumers and cost effective and reliable power as well, the minister noted.
Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli apprised the minister that the AP State Energy Conservation Mission would conduct energy conservation week from December 14 to 20 with an objective to create awareness among people on efficient use of energy. He said for the first time in the State, the APSECM has announced awards to encourage various government and private institutions in taking energy efficiency measures.