BJP accuses state government of providing cheap power to Tamil Nadu against state interest

Bhubaneswar: Alleging that electricity rates in Odisha are the highest in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday accused the state government of providing electricity to Tamil Nadu at cheap rates and burdening its own people. Addressing a press conference in Bhubaneswar, state BJP spokesperson Satyabrata Panda said consumers in Odisha have to pay much more for electricity compared to other states. He said that according to the Power Finance Corporation (PFC), power tariff in Odisha is more than 80 paise more expensive per unit than the national average, although the state has abundant coal as raw material. “Electricity consumers are suffering due to corruption and mismanagement of the state government,” the BJP leader alleged. Saying that Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) has set up a 3200 MW capacity power plant at Talabira in Sundergarh district, Panda said Odisha should get 50 per cent of the power produced at the plant. However, the state is getting only 800 MW of power from the plant, while 1500 MW is being supplied to Tamil Nadu at a very cheap rate, the BJP leader alleged. Claiming that Tamil Nadu seemed to have held the Odisha government hostage, Panda wanted to know why the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) was not taking steps to ensure fair allocation of power from the NLC plant.