 "Rajasthan govt waives fuel surcharge for domestic & agri consumers")
The Rajasthan state government withdrew fuel charges for all domestic and agricultural power consumers on Thursday, according to a report by Times of India. This action will add a burden of Rs 2,500 crore to the state government.
The chief minister's office put out a statement on Twitter that read, "The Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has given a big relief to the state's electricity consumers. Now domestic and agricultural electricity consumers will not have to pay fuel surcharge. The state government will bear the amount of Rs 2,500 crore towards fuel surcharge."
Currently, the government provides 100 units of free power to all, and no fuel surcharge is levied for up to 200 units of domestic power consumption.
The fuel surcharge is determined based on the difference between the approved variable cost and the actual cost of inputs.
According to the report, when announcing the waiver, CM Ashok Gehlot stated, "The fuel surcharge has been withdrawn for all domestic and agricultural consumers. This will burden the state government an extra burden of Rs 2,500 crore."
This announcement comes after the CM stated that additional reservations will be added in Rajasthan for other backward classes (OBC). Building on that, the CM also informed the media that the government would examine a "proportionate hike" in the SC/ST quota in government jobs. The CM stated that this was in light of the Supreme Court's move to remove the 50 per cent cap from government jobs after a 10 per cent reservation was granted for the economically weaker section (EWS).
Gehlot said that the Congress party was set to retain its power in the state in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections.