Farmers Movement Archive

One nation, one rate: Nitish Kumar pushes for uniform power rates for all states

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has mooted the idea of “One Nation, One Rate” on electricity supplied to states by the Central government power plants.Speaking at the governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog on Saturday, Kumar said different rates were charged from states on power supplied from the Central government’s power plants. “We purchase very costly power, as a result of which, the state government has to give more subsidy to provide cheap power to consumers. There should be a uniform rate. It will be good if a uniform policy for the purchase of power is implemented,” he said.Bihar has been raising the demand for uniform power rates for a few years.Kumar said power consumption in the state had increased from 700 MW in 2006 to 5932 MW in June 2020. “The state is paying ₹5,000 crore as subsidy to the people.”Also read: Military commanders discuss further disengagement in eastern LadakhThe chief minister also proposed an increase in the credit deposit ratio. “Bihar’s credit-deposit ratio is 36.1 per cent against the national average of 76.5 per cent which is 100 per cent in some states. The state deposits ₹3.75 lakh crore in banks, which provide only ₹1.35 lakh crore as loans. The money deposited in banks from states like Bihar goes to the developed states,” he said and suggested the opening of banks in every panchayat.“We are ready to provide Panchayat Sarkar Bhavan for the opening of banks. If industries are to be promoted in the state, there is a need to look into these basic issues,” he said.Kumar said the state had made its policy to promote industrialisation. “Bihar is a landlocked state. In 2011 we had demanded that a facility of port must be provided in Odisha which will help us send products from Bihar. We have placed this proposal several times and this needs attention once again,” said Kumar.Hailing the decision of production of ethanol, he said this would provide an alternative source of energy and reduce dependence on petrol and diesel. The chief minister also welcomed the Centre’s decision to install prepaid metres.“Bihar has already started the project. It will help check misuse of power, which harms the environment,” he said.Kumar, once again, supported the three farm bills and said these laws were in the interest of farmers. “The Niti Aayog had earlier brought the proposal to amend the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. In Bihar, it was abolished in 2006 and now the procurement has increased. Last year, the procurement of paddy was 20 lakh metric tonnes and till Friday, the procurement of paddy was 32.89 lakh metric tonnes this year,” the CM said.

Hindustan Times

20-02-2021

Patna