At Niti Aayog meet, Nitish pitches for 'one nation, one electricity rate'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumaron Saturday sought a policy of ''one nation, one rate'' ofelectricity, saying that it will benefit states like Biharwhich gets power at a higher rate compared to several others.

Addressing the sixth governing council meeting of theNiti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar saidthat Bihar used to draw only 700 MW of power in 2005 but thescenario has changed in the past 15 years and the state drew5,932 MW in June 2020.

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

On the three farm laws enacted by the Centre againstwhich many agriculturalists have been agitating near Delhi forthe past few months, Kumar said that the laws are pro-farmer.

''The rate of electricity which is supplied by thecentral government's power plants differ from state to state.

There should be a uniform policy - one nation, one rate,'' thechief minister said.

Bihar gets electricity at a higher rate and the stategovernment is forced to provide more grant to powerdistribution companies so that people get electricity at aneconomical rate, he said.

''It will be good if a single rate policy is adoptedfor the entire nation,'' an official release quoted the chiefminister as saying in the Niti Aayog meeting.

Taking part at the meeting via video-conference fromthe chief minister's official residence, he also appreciatedthe central government for launching a scheme for installingpre-paid meter, the work on which is currently underway in thestate.

Kumar said that at Niti Aayog meetings, he has raisedvarious issues relating to the state's interests includingthat of according special status category to Bihar.

On the issue of the farm laws, Kumar said, ''The threefarm laws brought by the Centre are in the interests offarmers.'' The Bihar government has abolished the AgriculturalProduce Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2006 as people faced alot of problems in selling their produce prior to that, Kumarsaid.

There used to be no procurement in Bihar and it washis government which started the process after coming to powerin 2005, he said.

The state procured 20 lakh metric tonne of paddy lastyear and it is 32.89 lakh metric tonne this year till Friday,the chief minister said.

Expressing concern over the low credit deposit (CD)ratio of Bihar, he said that it is only 36.1 per cent in Biharagainst the national average of 76.5 per cent, while the ratiois even 100 per cent in some states.

The CD ratio is the ratio of a bank's total loans andtotal deposits.

Kumar said that there should be a mechanism so thatbanks give loans to people of a state from the deposits madeby its people.

''People deposited Rs 3.75 lakh crore in Bihar butbanks extended loans up to Rs 1.35 lakh crore. The moneydeposited by Bihar goes to developed states,'' he asserted.

The CM praised the central government for its decisionto allow production of ethanol from sugarcane juice whichwould lessen the dependency on petrol and diesel.

He said that in 2007, a proposal to set up a Rs 21,000crore ethanol production unit in Bihar was shelved as thecentral government did not give permission.

''But now, it is good that ethanol production isstarting,'' he said.

Kumar also demanded that facilities of a port inOdisha be made available to Bihar, a landlocked state, tofacilitate smooth transportation of goods.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Bihar has declinedsignificantly but the state government is alert and has beencarrying out tests, he said.

Kumar said that the state government will fullycooperate with the Centre in the vaccination drive.