Power tariff hike not considered: Minister

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is not considering a hike in electricity tariff, Minister for Electricity, Natham R Viswanathan indicated here on Tuesday.Asked if a hike in the electricity tariff was likely, Viswanathan told Express that such reports were imaginative. “Neither the government, nor the TANGEDCO have said that there is such a move,” he said. The focus of the State is to accelerate power generation and ensure quality power supply, he added. Vishwanathan refused to comment further.Current scenarioAsked if the State had shown the green light to petition the TN Electricity Regulatory Commission to submit proposals for a hike, a senior official in the TANGEDCO said nothing has been finalised.“It is true that we are looking for solutions. Hiking tariff, floating bonds to mop up additional funds are among the suggestions given by officials at our review meetings to come out of the debt trap and improve efficiency. Such proposals are common. It does not mean that we have made decisions,” he said.  Sources in the government said that there was no such move at present to go in for a hike in electricity tariff immediately after an upward revision of sales taxes.