AP power sector role model with CRISIL ranking: CM
Hyderabad, June 13 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy today hailed the CRISIL rating for power utilities in the state as a vindication of his path breaking initiative of providing free power to poor farmers as an input subsidy.
Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde telephoned Dr Reddy this morning and congratulated him on the successful achievement of power sector performance index ratings of CRISIL despite implementing a pro-poor initiative like free power.
''The CRISIL rating is a vindication of my government's milestone initiative of providing free power to agriculture. The opposition TDP, which ridiculed that free farm power will render power lines into clothes lines, should eat its word now, Dr Reddy said.
Mr Shinde announced the CRISIL ratings of all states this morning at Delhi. They were Andhra Pradesh-55.8, Gujarat-54.4, Delhi-50.8, Kerala-46.9, West Bengal-46.2, Goa-44.9, Himachal Pradesh-43.0, Maharashtra-35.4, Karnataka-31.6 and Tamil Nadu-29.7.
The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh had become a role model for power reforms in the country. Among the slew of initiatives were: waiver of power arrears of the poor worth Rs.1250 crore, free power to 22 lakh agricultural pump sets, four per cent cut in industrial power tariff for last two years and no hike in power tariff for domestic consumers for two years, according to an official release.
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