Union power minister RK Singh on Thursday said that "asking for votes in the name of free power, makes the sector vulnerable." The minister did not take any names. His comments come in the backdrop of Congress recently winning Karnataka elections. In its manifesto, the party had included promises such as 200 units of free electricity to all households under 'Gruha Jyothi'.
A few days ago, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party's chief Arvind Kejriwal said the Congress had taken a cue from his party and the AAP manifesto and included such promises. AAP has been a proponent of offering free electricity in nearly all its manifestos — Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, and Gujarat.
At a rally in Bhopal in March, Kejriwal had said the people of Madhya Pradesh would receive free electricity if his party was given a chance.
Though Singh is against providing free power, BJP had offered the same to farmers for irrigation during the UP elections in 2022.
Singh said that in such instances of being offered free power, the taxpayer is the one that bears the brunt of it via higher taxes. "Unless people do not get more education, populist leaders will keep making such promises," said Singh. He was speaking on the second day of the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session 2023.
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Regarding the legacy dues to discoms, Singh said they had been brought down to 50 percent of what they were earlier. He added that the aim was to bring transmission losses to less than 15 percent by next year. "In case of non-payment, the power supply will shut off for discoms in case they don't clear dues," he said.
As of May 2023, electricity boards at the state level owed Rs 86,700 crore to power distribution companies. This included Rs 23,300 crore of legacy dues and Rs 63,400 crore of current dues.
According to a JM Financial report, the top five states are the ones that usually account for over 50 percent of the total outstanding dues. Of them, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Maharashtra usually remain in the top five.
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