Gruha Jyoti scheme not cause of power tariff hike; cost not passed on to others: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday dismissed allegations that the hike in power tariff has anything to do with the 'Gruha Jyoti' scheme that offers up to 200 units of free power for residential use every month.
He said there is a wrong notion that the burden of 'Gruha Jyoti' has been passed on to others.
"It is wrong to think that the burden of Gruha Jyoti Yojana has been put on others," Siddaramaiah told a delegation of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI). The delegation led by its President B V Gopal Reddy met the CM at his home office 'Krishna'.
Siddaramaiah, however, assured that he would look into the demands put forth by the FKCCI, which apprised him of the hardships being faced by traders and industries due to the "exorbitant" hike in power tariff.
The CM clarified that the hike was not done by his government but the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, and added that the decision on tariff increase was taken by the KERC even before his party came to power.
He assured the delegation that an appropriate decision would be taken after holding separate meetings with the finance and energy departments, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) and FKCCI.
The FKCCI members appealed to the CM to reduce the hike in power tariff for small and medium industries from nine per cent to three per cent.
They also requested Siddaramaiah to provide concession on Fuel Escalation Charges (FEC) and suggested that a policy for the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME), as has been formulated in some other states, be drawn up in Karnataka.
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LSG beat KKR by 3 wickets
Kolkata (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Opting to bowl, LSG restricted KKR to 181 for four.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi (45 off 33 balls), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (41 off 24 balls), Rovman Powell (39 not out off 24 balls) and Cameron Green (32 not out off 24 balls) were the major contributors for the home side.
For LSG, Digvesh Singh Rathi (1/25) was the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing 182, LSG rode on Ayush Badoni's 34-ball 54 and Mukul Chooudhary's brilliant 27-ball 54 not out to cross the line in a last ball thriller.
For KKR, Anukul Roy (2/32) and Vaibhav Arora (2/38) were the main wicket-takers.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 181 for 4 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 45, Ajinkya Rahane 41; Digvesh Singh Rathi 1/25).
Lucknow Super Giants: 182 for 7 in 20 overs (Ayush Badoni 54, Mukul Choudhary 54 not out; Anukul Roy 2/32).
