CHENNAI: Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Tuesday strongly refuted AIADMK member M Senthilkumar’s claim that the incumbent government has steeply hiked the power tariff. Responding to his charges, Senthil Balaji said the previous AIADMK government had increased the power tariff thrice and the net increase of the AIADMK government was 52.9%.
During his reply, the minister pointed out that power tariff was increased by 37% in 2012 under the AIADMK government. This was followed by additional hikes of 3.57% in 2013 and 16.3% in 2014, taking the cumulative increase to 56.9%. Ahead of the 2017 election, the AIADMK administration reduced the tariff by only 4%, effectively resulting in a net increase of 52.9% during its rule.
“Having overseen such a steep hike, the AIADMK is now attempting to create a false impression that power tariff revisions began only under the DMK government,” Senthil Balaji said.
He further highlighted that there has been no tariff increase for nearly one crore domestic consumers, under the DMK regime. “Despite financial constraints, the DMK government has ensured low-income households are not burdened. The recent revision was marginal and carefully structured to protect the interests of the poor,” he said.
The minister also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving the state’s power infrastructure without shifting the burden onto common consumers.
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