HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has approved a proposal not to hike power tariff for the next four years of his Government, bringing a big relief to the 80 lakh domestic consumers in urban and rural areas.

Dr. Reddy is believed to have given the nod to the proposal that came up for discussion during a review of the power situation here early on Sunday morning. A detailed review will follow, after which it will be put before the Cabinet. A formal announcement is expected only after the municipal elections, subject to the approval by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Sources in the Chief Minister Office said Dr. Reddy, who had earlier announced that there would be no power tariff hike for 2006-07, was convinced of continuing it till 2009 based on an analysis of the power situation. The officials told him that the copious inflows into reservoirs had ensured large-scale generation of cheaper hydel power. This could be leveraged for improving overall performance of the power utilities and keep the hike under check.

Three-pronged strategy

They said a three-pronged strategy had been evolved to meet the objective. These include increase the present installed capacity from 11,134 MW to 16,000 MW by the end of 2008-09, reducing transmission and distribution losses from 21 per cent to 18 per cent and improve customer service.

When the question of funding agencies like World Bank taking exception to the move came up, the Chief Minister is said to have observed that his Government was elected by the people and that it was accountable to them and not others. Moreover, there was demand from different sections and the Left parties.

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