No hike in electricity bill, Nitish Kumar announces subsidy of Rs 13,114 cr

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced in a rally on Friday that his government will not increase electricity rates and will instead provide a subsidy of Rs 13,114 crore.

“Our cabinet has decided that we will not allow the electricity tariff to increase for the people of Bihar, and the tariffs will remain the same as last year. For this, we have increased the subsidy from Rs 8,895 crore to Rs 13,114 crore,” he said.

Moreover, Nitish Kumar said that despite Bihar being a 'gareeb rajya', the central government still imposes higher electricity charges on the state. “Maharashtra gets electricity at Rs 4.32 per unit despite being the richest state, while Bihar gets it at Rs 5.82 per unit. Last year, we used to buy it at Rs 5.82 per unit, but it has been increased to Rs 5.82 per unit,” said Nitish Kumar.

“The rate is decided by the regulator, but the final ball is in our courts, we are in the category of poor states, Madhya Pradesh gets electricity at Rs 3.49 per unit. Center should think about 'gareeb rajya', we are getting expensive electricity. We have been demanding one state, one tariff for a long time,” the CM further added.

The 24.1% increase has already been ordered by the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission and the new rates were to come into effect on April 1. However, based on the government announcement, customers no longer have to bear the additional burden.

After the announcement, Nitish Kumar Tejashwi Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister, welcomed the government's choice and called it a choice made in the interest of the common people and farmers.