GUWAHATI, March 6 - Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in his 2020-21 state budget, proposed a new scheme to provide free electricity to all households whose monthly electricity consumption is up to 30 units.
He said 30 units of electricity is considered sufficient to support the basic electricity consumption needs of a household, like light bulbs, ceiling fans and domestic appliances.
Currently, 14 lakh families consume electricity up to 30 units monthly and this initiative, he said, will immediately benefit families belonging to the bottom of the pyramid including tea garden workers, families living below poverty line and our SC-ST population.
This subsidy will cost the State Government Rs 250 crore annually.
The minister further said the government in its tenure has also made sure that the power tariff in the State remains affordable to the common man.
�However, the market forces are consistently driving the cost of electricity generation and distribution upwards. This has created a lot of financial stress on the power generation and distribution companies of our State. The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) is on the verge of recommending an increase in tariff which will burden consumers greatly. Therefore, to significantly mitigate the consequences of this tariff revision, our Government will provide Rs 300 crore to APDCL for providing tariff relief to the general public,� he said.
Besides, the State government is also continuing the existing subsidy to around 38 lakh Domestic-A consumers at prevailing rate of Rs 1.01 per unit for 120 units per month.
