AP Cabinet divided over power tariff hike

Hyderabad: Difference of opinion on hiking power charges in Andhra Pradesh surfaced at the Cabinet meeting held here on Friday. With some ministers opposing the proposals, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had reportedly asked his Cabinet colleagues to think on hiking 1 per cent power charges to those consumers utilizing above 100 units a month.

While denying any discussion, Information and Public Relations Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy in his briefing said the Cabinet had taken up three major decisions on Irrigation, women empowerment, laying fiber grid during a marathon meeting of six hours.

With regard to irrigation, of the 41 pending projects at various stages, the ministers said they need about Rs 21,280 crore. And, it was decided to complete the projects to bring about 25 lakh acres under irrigation in next three years. For this, two high power committees would be constituted, which would inquire into the pending irrigation projects. Of the two committees, one committee headed by the Chief Secretary would take decisions on the projects costing more than Rs 100 crore. The other committee headed by the Finance Secretary would decide on the projects with less than Rs 100 crore. These two committees would also address the Coast Compensation issues, the minister said. It has also decided to take up minor, panchayat raj and other irrigation water resources to conserve water under the Neeru Chettu Programme.

Raghunath Reddy said the Cabinet had decided to constitute a Women Empowerment Corporation on the lines of Farmers Empowerment Corporation, brining all the wings, schemes, projects and funds under it, to make focused attempt to empower women. The meeting has also decided to invest Rs 10 crore as an initial capital for the Fire Grid project , to provide 10 to 15 mega bytes speed of internet connectivity to about 1.3 crore households in the State. Similarly, it was decided to provide one-GB high speed internet connectivity to every Gram Panchayat in the State.

The Cabinet has also made land allocations to set up four wind energy projects in Anantapur district to generate 60 MW of wind energy. It had asked the Municipal Administration department to submit a report on the financial health of the municipal bodies in the State to seek Rs 1,400 crore from the Centre under performance grant. The Cabinet has also approved to roll out Chandranna Sankranthi programme with an estimated outlay of Rs 314 crore.