Senthilbalaji questions AIADMK silence on fuel price hike

CHENNAI: Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji on Friday defended the electricity tariff hike and questioned the AIADMK and BJP which have announced protests against the electricity charges revision on their silence on the steep hike in the domestic LPG cylinders, petrol and diesel prices.

Addressing a press conference after inspecting B and C Mills substation, he said that the electricity charges in the State are cheaper compared to Karnataka and Gujarat but nobody is protesting against it. “Protests are being announced by the parties in Tamil Nadu even though we have the cheapest tariff in the country,” he said.

AIADMK announced a protest against the proposed electricity tariff hike on July 25 while the BJP to hold a protest on Saturday. “Why these parties did not hold any protest against the LPG, diesel and petrol price hike? In 2014, the price of LPG was Rs 410 but it costs Rs 1120 now. A litre of petrol which was costing Rs 72 in 2014 now sold for Rs 102. Similarly, the cost of diesel has gone up from Rs 54 a litre to Rs 94 a litre,” he said, adding that AIADMK failed to correct the mismanagement in the administration in Tangedco in its 10 years of rule.

He debunked the AIADMK's claims that they did not hike the electricity charges. “The electricity tariff was hiked in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In a year, the price was hiked by 37 per cent by the then AIADMK government,” he said. He noted that the union government has written 28 times to the state to revise the electricity tariff.