Nitish Kumar seeks ‘One nation One electricity rate’ at NITI Aayog meet

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday sought a policy of 'one nation, one rate' of electricity, saying that it will benefit states like Bihar which gets power at a higher rate compared to several others. Addressing the sixth governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar said that Bihar used to draw only 700 MW of power in 2005 but the scenario has changed in the past 15 years and the state drew 5,932 MW in June 2020.

Nitish Kumar-led NDA government came to power in the state in November 2005 for the first time.

On the three farm laws enacted by the Centre against which many agriculturalists have been agitating near Delhi for the past few months, Kumar said that the laws are pro-farmer. "The rate of electricity which is supplied by the central government's power plants differ from state to state. There should be a uniform policy-one nation, one rate," the chief minister said.

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Bihar gets electricity at a higher rate and the state government is forced to provide more grant to power distribution companies so that people get electricity at an economical rate, he said.

"It will be good if a single rate policy is adopted for the entire nation," an official release quoted the chief minister as saying in the Niti Aayog meeting. Taking part at the meeting via video-conference from the chief minister's official residence, he also appreciated the central government for launching a scheme for installing the pre-paid meter, the work on which is currently underway in the state.

Kumar said that at Niti Aayog meetings, he has raised various issues relating to the state's interests including that of according special status category to Bihar. On the issue of the farm laws, Kumar said, "The three farm laws brought by the Centre are in the interests of farmers." The Bihar government had abolished the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2006 as people used to face a lot of problems in selling their produce prior to that, Kumar said.

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