Price of rice, water may go up amid power tariff hike in Karnataka
The Karnataka State Rice Millers’ Association (KSRMA) has hinted that the rice prices may be increased in the state by about ₹3 to ₹4 per kg.
Traders and small business owners held protest rallies in several parts of Karnataka and observed a one day strike on Thursday opposing the recent power tariff hike, even as the state’s Medium and Large Scale Industries Minister M B Patil appealed to them to cooperate with the state government. He asserted that the power tariff was increased by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) and not the state government.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Rice Millers’ Association (KSRMA) has hinted that the rice prices may be increased in the state by about ₹three to ₹four per kg. “It is not us who are increasing the price. The power tariff and paddy prices have gone up. The hike will be by ₹three to ₹four per kg across the fine rice varieties,” KSRMA General Secretary S Shiva Kumar said.
Following a call for a ‘bandh’ given by Hubballi-based Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), industrialists and small traders participated in a protest march in big numbers. Their protests came at a time when the state government started the registration process earlier this week for the ‘Gruha Jyoti’ scheme offering up to 200 units of free electricity for residential connections.
Carrying banners, posters and placards, the traders and industrialists held marches in the district headquarters of Hubballi-Dharwad, Shivamogga, Belagavi, Ballari, Vijayanagar, Davangere and Koppal, among others. They shouted slogans demanding that the government roll back the hike. In Belagavi, a large number of traders and small-and-micro industry owners marched up to the office of the Deputy Commissioner with their banners and placards.
KCCI acting president Sandeep Bidasaria claimed that the hike in power tariff has gone up between 50 and 70 per cent, which has deeply impacted small businesses. A protester in Belagavi, a city bordering Maharashtra, alleged that many industries were planning to move out to the neighbouring state due to the drastic increase in tariff.
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