Odisha BJP govt is mortgaged by TATA Power, says Congress

Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo while addressing a press meet at congress Bhawan on Thursday, said that while Tata Power’s primary responsibility is to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to all consumers in the state,the frequent undeclared power cut have made lives of the people measurable and unbearable.

Kanungo stated that if the daily undeclared power outages are added up, consumers are left without electricity for at least one full day each month. ‘In other words, out of 30 days, consumers are forced to spend one entire day per month without power, yet Tata Power collects electricity bills for that day also’, he added.

Claiming that Odisha government is turning a blind eye to these issues, Kanungo charged, the BJP government in Odisha has been mortgaged by Tata Power like previous BJD government.

“Odisha has over one crore electricity consumers. Due to undeclared power cuts 12 days in a year, the company collects bills for electricity that consumers do not use”, Kanungo stated.

Kanungo bemoaned, “Odisha is the second-largest producer of electricity in the country, thanks to power generated from coal and water sources. However, despite being a power-surplus state, electricity tariffs in Odisha are among the highest in India”.

He alleged that while the Odisha government purchases power at the rate of rupees 2.40,on other hand it sells at an exorbitant rate at rupees 7.60, the highest in the country.

”Of the electricity produced in Odisha, 82% comes from coal, 11% from hydropower, 4% from renewable energy, and 3% from other sources. Despite the transmission and distribution losses dropping from 41% to 17%, electricity tariffs have not been curtailed”, he expressed.

Odisha has a power generation capacity of 9,000 MW, with 5,500 MW being produced from different sources and 4,300–4,700 MW are being consumed, Kanungo informed.

Kanungo also mentioned that despite this, the state government is blindly favouring Tata Power’s tariff hike.

Out of Odisha’s 1 crore 3 lakh electricity consumers, only 36 lakh use less than 2 kilowatts. Kanungo demanded the removal of additional charges collected by the company under the guise of energy charges.

The congress leader demanded the state government should bear 50% of the accessory costs, the distribution company should bear  25% of the cost, and remaining 25% will be borne by the consumers like in Delhi and Mumbai.

The four demands,the congress leader has put forth are the  state government should fully bear the electricity costs for all panchayats, Anganwadi centres, schools, government water tanks, and street lighting in rural areas, the government or the company should cover all expenses related to smart meters.

 The other two demands are the minimum energy charge of rupees 20 per kilowatt should be completely withdrawn, and clear directives should be issued to the company in this regard.

 The party said as the transmission and distribution losses have reduced from 41% to 17%, the per-unit rate charged to consumers should be lowered.

 Under the leadership of PCC President Bhakta Charan Das and other senior leaders, the Congress is moving forward and will not allow the public to be exploited, he thundered.

 Kanungo emphasised that this is not just the Congress’s fight but a battle for the rights of the people. He urged the media to raise awareness about the exploitation by the electricity company.

 Among others spokespersons Prasanta Satapathy, Nalinikanta Nayak, Debashish Bhuyan, and Amrita Das attended the press meet.