Amritsar, January 6
The number of households availing free power supply is likely to fall by four per cent this billing period in comparison to the previous billing cycle in the state.
Harbhajan Singh ETO, Punjab Power Minister, said that over 86 per cent of the households will have zero electricity bills during this billing period. After inaugurating the 80 KVA Solar Net Meter System, which has been installed by Dynax Solar Limited Company at Daburji area, situated on the city outskirts on Friday, the minister shared the data.
The government had earlier claimed that the number of zero domestic bills touched more than 90 per cent of the total domestic consumers during the last billing cycle while others getting Rs 3 per unit relief, the total subsidised domestic consumers, are almost 98 per cent. The rebate of up to 600 units of domestic power in the bi-monthly billing announced by the AAP government was implemented from July onwards.
A minor decline in the number of families availing subsidised power was being attributed to an increase in power consumption due to the sweeping cold wave and freezing conditions.
The Power Minister said that with the mandate to provide 24 hours of electricity to the people of the state, the electricity infrastructure is continuously being improved and the old transformers are being replaced. He said that along with this, new power lines are also being laid so that the state can be made self-reliant in terms of electricity.
Elaborating about the installed solar system at Daburji, ETO said it would help generate 300 units of electricity daily and reinforced the commitment of the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government to encourage people to install solar systems so that electricity generation can be increased under thrust to renewable sources of energy. He said the present government has fulfilled its big promise of providing more than 25,000 jobs to the youth in just nine months and the year 2023 will see major changes in education, employment and health sectors.
He said the government was providing corruption-free administration to people and has zero tolerance towards corruption. He claimed that the government made great strides in the first nine months and development work moved at a fast pace.
