Goa Cong says it will demand rollback of power tariff hike during assembly session

Panaji, Jun 18 (PTI) The Congress in Goa on Tuesday said it will press for a rollback of the power tariff hike during the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly.

The state government recently announced a 3.5 per cent hike in the power tariff, a move that was opposed by the opposition parties. The upcoming session of the state assembly is scheduled to begin next month.

Addressing a press conference here after chairing the Congress legislative Party meeting, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao claimed that the BJP government in the state had given a categorical assurance that the power tariff will not be hiked.

"But despite the assurance, the tariff has been hiked by 3.5 per cent. On the one hand, there is an increase in the power tariff, on the other people are facing power cuts," he said.

Alemao said the electricity department is yet to recover Rs 1,450 crore from industrial consumers and government departments.

"When such a huge recovery is pending, why is the state government burdening common consumers with additional cost," he questioned.

Stating that there are frequent power cuts in the state, Alemao questioned what happened to Rs 12,000 crore spent on the improvement of electricity transmission network between 2019 and 2022 in the state.

"This government has failed to reduce the power losses and control the power thefts," he said.

Referring to the media statement by Union Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik, Alemao said that Naik has announced that the ministry will appoint a consultant for wind turbine electricity generation project.

"There is categorical reply given on the floor of the House that all the possible sites for wind turbine power generation are under low wind regime and hence it is not feasible," he added. PTI RPS NP