Punjab CM announces Power tariff cut by Rs 3 & DA hike for govt staff

In Punjab,power rates have been slashed by Rs 3 per unit in the state with immediate effect. chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday announced a slew of relief measures for citizens and state government employees, Channi said that the first 100 units of power will be charged at Rs 1.19 per unit for all domestic consumers. After that, consumption between 100 and 300 units will be billed at Rs 4 per unit. For more than 300 units, the charges will now be 5.76 rupees per unit. "The power tariff in Punjab will be the cheapest in the country. This will benefit maximum consumers," CM Channi stated.

He further said the government had decided to terminate its agreements with the GVK-owned power plant in Goindwal Sahib  that was providing electricity at ₹6-7 per unit. “We will also rework power purchase agreements with two other privately owned thermal plants in Punjab by bringing in legislation in the upcoming session of the Assembly on Nov 8,” he said. The chief minister said that Rs 3,316 crore will be spent on power subsidy per annum. This is in addition to the subsidy being given to the agriculture sector already, he said. "21 lakh domestic consumers are already getting free power up to 200 units," he said.

For state government employees, he announced an 11 per cent hike in dearness allowance and urged them to sit for talks and not agitate over any of their demands till the next assembly election. Channi said, “On the occasion of Diwali, I wanted to give them a gift, one that they never had before. The employees were on strike even before I became the CM. I spoke with them this morning.”