Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS) In a bonanza to the people of Punjab ahead of Diwali, the Punjab Cabinet on Monday decided to reduce the power tariff to domestic sector consumers having connected load up to 7 KW by Rs 3 per unit.
With this, 69 lakh domestic consumers out of the total 71.75 lakh are going to get benefited, an official statement said.
The total annual financial burden on the state exchequer would be approximately Rs 3,316 crore due to this tariff rationalisation.
Existing free power facility up to 1 KW to the Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Classes and the below poverty line (BPL) categories will continue.
The state government will reduce the power procurement cost and it will be passed on to the consumers.
State-run PSPCL has issued termination of notice to GVK Thermal Plant at Goindwal Sahib. This costly power will be replaced with the low cost power from solar and other sources, said the statement.
The PSPCL has also issued default notice to Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant for failure to give proper supply during the last paddy season. This penalty amount works out to be in the range of Rs 600-800 crore.
It has allotted two solar companies to supply power to the tune of 250 MW at the record lowest rate of Rs 2.33 per unit. Similarly, PSPCL has allotted 150 MW of solar plants to be established within Punjab at the rate of Rs 2.69 per unit. These plants will be established in next eight months.
The state government has already waived off pending defaulting amount of consumers having connected load of less than 2 KW. With this the government is going to bear an expenditure of Rs 1500 crore and it will benefit 15 lakh consumers, especially the poor.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and its Punjab counterpart will probe the death of a Dalit man, who was allegedly thrashed and forced to drink urine in a village in Sangrur district of Punjab.
For those whose annual income is less than Rs 3 lakh, the subsidy has been increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. For those with annual income of more than Rs 3 lakh, the subsidy has been increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.
In today's day and age, most artistes are trying hard to stay relevant. For singer Lucky Ali, who has been in the music industry for over three decades, it's all about staying "irrelevant". He says that the number of online views his songs garner don't thrill him.
On the basis of intelligence inputs, a heavy contingent of police consisting of 800 constables of local police and ten companies of Central paramilitary force was deployed at JNU while key Metro stations were shut.
Four soldiers and two civilian porters died after they were trapped in an avalanche on the Siachen Glacier's northern sector on Monday, officials said.
