CHENNAI: Political parties in Tamil Nadu Friday strongly opposed the power tariff hike averaging around 15 percent and demanded its withdrawl by the state government.
"The second hike by the AIADMK government should be fully withdrawn," DMK president M.Karunanidhi said in a statement issued here.
Citing reports, Karunanidhi said the hike does not seem to have the unanimous approval of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) and appears to have been announced under the government's compulsion.
PMK leader S.Ramadoss in a statement condemned the power tariff hike to mobilise around Rs.5,447 crore by the state power utility.
The TNERC, this September, suo moto announced its decision to go ahead with the tariff revision as the state government undertaking Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) failed to file its tariff revision plan of 2014-15.
According to the TNERC, the revenue gap for TANGEDCO is Rs.6,854 crore, which is sought to be bridged by revising the power rates for consumers.
Ramadoss wondered how the revenue gap came down from Rs.6,854 crore to Rs.5,447 crore when it (TNERC) announced the revised tariff late Thursday night.
The PMK leader blamed gross mismanagement and purchase of power from private players at a high cost as the reasons for the losses suffered by the power utility.
In a statement, MDMK's general secretary Vaiko said the AIADMK government has hiked the power tariff by 30 percent in the last three-and-half years.
He said the purchase of power from private players at a high cost, not commissioning new power projects on time, and not setting its functioning right were the main reasons for power utility's losses.