Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday announced that the government would shortly increase the electricity charges.
He made this announcement while speaking on a short discussion on Palle Pragathi in the Assembly.
He however added that the hike would be structured in such a way that the poorer sections would not be hit by it.
The CM said that the increase in the electricity charges was the only option to ensure the continued existence of the power generation and distribution companies. He also said that the increase was also necessitated to ensure the development of the villages. He urged the people to be prepared to bear the increased charges for the cause of the development of the state. He added that he was not scared of losing the votes of the people since he was confident that the people would see the necessity of the hike.
The CM also announced that the property tax would be increased, too, as that was necessary to develop the villages and municipalities in the state. He added that the state government would release Rs 90 lakh to each of the 12,751 gram panchayats in the state over five years, and added that a minimum assured amount of Rs 40 lakh would be released for each of the 899 gram panchayats with less than 500 population which would have poor revenues, to push their development. He said that funds would be released to gram panchayats every month without fail, and that the hike in property tax would go a long way in funding this initiative.
filed in:Telangana, KCR, Power Surcharge Hike, Power Tariff, Tariff Hike, Property Tax