Chennai: Opposition leader Edappadi K. Palaniswamy and exiled AIADMK leader O Panirselvam have lashed out at the Tamil Nadu government for raising tariffs on commercial establishments and industries. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of the tariff hike.
The “incompetent” DMK government had failed to develop the infrastructure to meet the growing demands of industry. Instead, it has caused an artificial power shortage to purchase electricity from private power companies at a higher price, resulting in heavy losses for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TEB), EPS said.
The DMK government raised electricity tariffs (2.18%) for commercial facilities and industries for the second time.
The EPS said it “strongly condemns the incompetent and puppet prime minister for raising tariffs on industrial and commercial facilities.”
Tangedco is not a commercial enterprise with profit in mind. It’s a service industry. The poor, weavers, farmers and the middle class should be supplied with electricity free of charge, while the industries affecting the industrial sector should be supplied with electricity at a nominal rate. The AIADMK government has achieved this without raising electricity tariffs for eight years, he said.
It is the responsibility of the government to bear the burden of raising electricity tariffs. But the current government has failed to meet this mandate, he said, also pointing to higher property taxes and milk prices after the DMK voted to power.
OPS, for his part, called on the Tennessee government to rescind the rate hikes on commercial and industrial connections to protect the welfare of the poor. He said raising tariffs would add fuel to the fire at a time when the public was already suffering from inflation. Tariff hikes will become apparent as product prices rise, and will fall on the shoulders of ordinary people. With this in mind, the government should immediately withdraw tariff increases on industrial and commercial facilities.
