Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 20 (ANI): Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut on Friday said the state government has ordered an inquiry into the deficit in electricity bill recovery under the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
“In yesterday’s cabinet meeting we discussed the deficits that happened in the last government tenure and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered an inquiry into this. We want to see how the previous government has worked to bring Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) under deficits,” Raut said while addressing a press conference.
He slammed the BJP for announcing the state-wide protest against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and said that the opposition party should rather protest against the Central government as it is behaving like a ‘Sahukar’ (money lender).
“BJP should protest against the Central government rather than state government because we have asked for a loan from the Centre, but they are levelling higher interest rates than banks. The interest rate is around 11 per cent. They (BJP) are real Sahukars,” he said.
Addressing BJP’s allegation about backing down from his word regarding providing free electricity till 100 units, Raut said he is still firm on his stand, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government was unable to meet the target.
“I am still firm on my stand of providing free 100 units electricity in the state, and we have already formed a committee to work on it. But, due to Coronavirus, we were unable to meet the target,” he stated.
Talking in the context of power grid failure in Mumbai a few weeks back, the Energy Minister said,
“The state government is ensuring to provide hassle-free 24 hours electricity to Mumbai.”
Earlier today, Maharashtra BJP has announced that it will hold a state-wide protest against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Monday, November 23, for refusing to provide exemption on the electricity bills that the state had announced earlier.
