Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy on Tuesday said that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy would review the power tariff hike in the wake of objections from political parties and civil organisations.
The minister, however, made it clear that he was not asking the CM to review the hike but only assuming that he would take up the exercise because of growing rese-ntment against the hike. Mr Ramanarayana Reddy noted that the Congress government has not enhanced the tariff since 2004 and is bearing a subsidy burden of Rs 5,300 crore. “Even because of the present hike, 54 per cent consumers in the state would not be affected,” he said.
The minister, who claimed that he lacked the stature to ask the CM to undertake a review, met Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy to discuss the issue. The meeting gained significance in the backdrop of the CM’s rivals within the government targeting him over the hike. One after another, the ministers issued statements adding to the confusion and indicating a lack of proper understanding of the issue.
“The bottom line is that we are unhappy over the CM taking a unilateral decision to increase tariff without discussing the issue in the Cabinet,” a senior minister said. Immediately after the announcement of the tariff hike, minister D. Manikya Vara Prasad said that the hike was not final because the Cabinet was yet to give its nod. The fact, however, was that the CM, who also holds the energy portfolio, approved the hike by deciding not to enhance the subsidy component.