Industrialists not burdened by Gruha Jyothi, insists Siddu

Maqsood Maniyar | NT Bengaluru

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah  on Friday said that it was a false notion that industrialists were being burdened by power price being levied on them due to the free electricity offered under the Gruha Jyothi scheme.

He made the comments while speaking to the delegation led by Federation of Karnataka Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) president BV Gopal Reddy. “Our government has not taken any decision on increasing electricity charges. KERC (Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission) had decided to increase the charges before our government came to power,” Siddaramaiah said.

KERC had increased the electricity charges on the industrial sector in its tariff order. The delegation had appealed to reduce electricity tax to 3 per cent from the current 9 cent, which is levied on small and medium industries and HT industries.

They also requested reduction of fuel escalation charges, besides formation of a policy on Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) and legislation on the same which many states already have.

The meeting was also attended by Energy Minister KJ George, CM’s Political Secretaries Govindaraju, Naseer Ahmed, Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, FKCCI office bearers Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, MG Balakrishna, Prasad, BT Manohar and others.

Will resolve MSMEs’ issues: CM Siddaramaiah said that a meeting will be convened along with Energy, Industry and Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) to resolve the issues of small, medium and micro industries.

He met with the delegation led by KASSIA president KN Narasimhamurthy. “The previous government has Rs11,000 crores due for payment to Escoms (Electricity Supply Companies). Those dues will have to be cleared by us,” he said, adding that the “damage caused by the financial indiscipline” of the previous BJP government has to be resolved.

KJ George suggested that the delegation can appeal to KERC for reconsideration of its recommendation for a hike of electricity rates.