Gruha Jyoti scheme not cause of power tariff hike; cost not passed on to others: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday dismissed allegations that the hike in power tariff has anything to do with the ‘Gruha Jyoti’ scheme that offers up to 200 units of free power for residential use every month.

He said there is a wrong notion that the burden of 'Gruha Jyoti' has been passed on to others.

“It is wrong to think that the burden of Gruha Jyoti Yojana has been put on others,” Siddaramaiah told a delegation of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI). The delegation led by its President B V Gopal Reddy met the CM at his home office 'Krishna'.

Siddaramaiah, however, assured that he would look into the demands put forth by the FKCCI, which apprised him of the hardships being faced by traders and industries due to the "exorbitant" hike in power tariff.

The CM clarified that the hike was not done by his government but the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, and added that the decision on tariff increase was taken by the KERC even before his party came to power.

He assured the delegation that an appropriate decision would be taken after holding separate meetings with the finance and energy departments, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) and FKCCI.

The FKCCI members appealed to the CM to reduce the hike in power tariff for small and medium industries from nine per cent to three per cent.

They also requested Siddaramaiah to provide concession on Fuel Escalation Charges (FEC) and suggested that a policy for the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME), as has been formulated in some other states, be drawn up in Karnataka.