Subsidy on electricity will not be stopped: Himachal CM

The Chief Minister said that the government after the people gave up power subsidy, state government generated a revenue of ₹59 lakh from last year to 20 February 2025 as 12,000 to 15,000 people gave up electricity subsidy in the state.

On the second day of the monsoon session of the Himachal Assembly on Tuesday, the issue of electricity subsidy and smart meter was raised prominently in the Question Hour. During this, the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified that the state government has no intention of stopping the subsidy of any consumer. “Whether a consumer has one meter or more, they will continue to get subsidy as before,” said CM.

On the second day of the monsoon session of the Himachal Assembly on Tuesday, the issue of electricity subsidy and smart meter was raised prominently in the Question Hour. During this, the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified that the state government has no intention of stopping the subsidy of any consumer. “Whether a consumer has one meter or more, they will continue to get subsidy as before,” said CM. (HT Photo)

The Chief Minister said that the government after the people gave up power subsidy, state government generated a revenue of ₹59 lakh from last year to 20 February 2025 as 12,000 to 15,000 people gave up electricity subsidy in the state. At the same time, ₹17.95 lakh has been spent on electricity bills of cabinet rank leaders during the same period. He also assured that the existing scheme of giving free electricity up to 125 units will continue and the government is also trying to increase it to 300 units in the future.

On the progress of installing smart meters, the Chief Minister informed the house that so far 6,52,955 smart meters have been installed in Shimla city, Dharamshala city and areas under Shimla zone. This work will be completed in the remaining areas by February 2026.

In Himachal Pradesh, beneficiaries of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Housing Scheme will also be included in the BPL list. Apart from this, patients suffering from diseases like cancer, AIDS, orphans up to the age of 27 years and 40% disabled people will also be included in the BPL list. This was shared by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Aniruddh Singh before the house.

Imposing more restrictions will cause problems in organizing fairs: Agnihotri

To encourage local artists, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri apprised the house that 5850 local artists performed in various fairs organized across the state. Agnihotri said that the department has already given guidelines to give preference to local artists in the fairs of the state. The Deputy Chief Minister said that artists from the country and abroad come to Rampur’s Lavi Fair, Kullu’s International Dussehra, Chamba’s Minjar, Mandi’s Shivratri. “The local administration faces a lot of difficulties in organizing these fairs. In such a situation, if more restrictions are imposed on the administration, then they will face a lot of difficulties in organizing them”, said Agnihotri.