Union Minister Khattar reviews Karnataka’s power sector, pushes for cost-reflective tariffs

Bengaluru, May 23 (PTI) Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday conducted a comprehensive review of Karnataka’s power sector and urged the state government to reduce the annual financial losses of its power utilities and implement cost-reflective tariffs.

He stressed the importance of clearing dues and subsidies related to government departments on time and advised the state to ensure the saturation of prepaid smart meters across all government establishments, including local bodies and colonies, by August 2025.

According to an official statement, the review meeting in Bengaluru—attended by senior ministers and officials—included a detailed presentation by the state government on the status of power generation, transmission, and distribution in Karnataka.

Key issues discussed included the generation mix, right-of-way (RoW) challenges for transmission infrastructure, and the need for support to improve distribution infrastructure.

Khattar congratulated the state for increasing the share of renewable energy in its power mix and said his visit aimed to understand ground-level issues and explore new initiatives to strengthen Karnataka’s power supply.

"The minister urged the state to reduce annual financial losses of its power utilities and move towards cost-reflective tariffs," the statement said.

He also stressed the need for a centralised payment mechanism for better management of government electricity dues, it added.

Khattar further directed the state to expedite the rollout of smart meters for commercial, industrial, and other consumer categories in a time-bound manner.

He urged a swift resolution of RoW issues hampering transmission infrastructure and recommended adopting the compensation mechanism issued by the Government of India.

Khattar assured continued support from the Centre to strengthen Karnataka’s power sector and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the welfare and development of the state and its people. PTI AMP SSK