Free electricity for 1.67 crore families: Nitish Kumar's latest big announcement ahead of Bihar election
This comes weeks after the Bihar government announced its decision to nearly triple the social security pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 per month for 1.1 crore beneficiaries.
'We have been providing electricity to everyone at affordable rates from the beginning. Now, we have decided that from August 1, 2025, i.e., from the July bill onwards, all domestic consumers in the state will not have to pay for up to 125 units of electricity. This will benefit a total of 1.67 crore families in the state,' the CM said in a post on X.
'We have also decided that over the next three years, we will install solar power plants on the rooftops of these domestic consumers, or nearby public spaces, with their consent. For extremely poor families under the Kutiir Jyoti Yojana, the state government will bear the entire cost of installing solar power plants, and the government will also provide appropriate support to the rest. This means that domestic consumers will not have to pay for up to 125 units of electricity, and the state will also have an estimated 10,000 megawatts of solar energy available within the next three years,' Nitish Kumar's post, which was in Hindi, said.
Ever since Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had announced a few months ago that his alliance would offer 200 units of power for free if it came to power after this year's Assembly election, the NDA government had been working out its plans to offer free electricity.
Bihar is set to go to the polls this October-November.
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari took a swipe at the CM over the free electricity announcement, calling it a 'copycat' move.
'It is not for nothing that our leader calls Nitish Kumar a copycat CM. It was Tejashwi ji who had first come up with ideas of raising social security pension and offering free power. It is time the NDA came up with some original ideas… Eventually, people will take a call on the NDA, which looks desperate to stay in power by offering sundry doles,' he said.
Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
... Read More
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
With free power sop before Bihar Assembly polls, why Nitish Kumar has stepped up solar pitch
In a populist move just a few months before the Bihar Assembly elections, Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar Thursday announced free electricity up to 125 units for all domestic consumers in the state, numbering 1.67 crore families. Nitish's announcement in an X post also proposed the installation of solar power plants on rooftops of public places as well as people's houses with their consent, indicating how a power-starved and financially-constrained state like Bihar could benefit by scaling up its renewable energy production. Earlier this month, the Nitish-led NDA government announced its Renewable Energy Policy 2025 that has set an ambitious target for alternative energy production in Bihar, while also aiming to attract large investments to boost the state's industrial growth. Currently, Bihar meets its peak demand of over 8,500 MW power almost entirely from thermal plants and electricity imported from other states, which often command higher prices. Bihar also spends heavily to keep power affordable. In 2024-25, the state provided about Rs 15,343 crore in subsidies, delivering electricity to farmers at just Rs 0.55 per unit and offering significant tariff relief for domestic users. These factors have led to the Nitish Kumar government's decision to seek cheaper power through renewable energy production. However, despite having the potential, Bihar has remained a laggard in this sector. As of early 2025, the state's installed renewable energy capacity amounted to just 539 MW, which mostly comprises smaller projects. The state's installed solar capacity stands at only 328.3 MW, making it one of the least solarised big states in India, whose cumulative solar installations have surpassed 116 GW. The Nitish Kumar government hopes to turn this around with its renewable energy policy, aiming to reach 23 GW by 2030. The policy offers investors a bouquet of incentives, including 100% SGST reimbursement, exemption from electricity duty for 15 years, guaranteed feed-in tariffs, carbon credit eligibility and a single-window clearance. The government has also proposed to earmark 5% of the renewable energy budget for R&D in a bid to spur 'long-term innovation'. 'Come and invest,' says state Energy Department secretary Manoj Kumar Singh. 'Our renewable energy demand is 23 GW by 2029-30. The investments in Bihar are going to fetch maximum returns.' JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad also sought to link free power with renewable energy. 'The announcement of the renewable energy policy is a revolutionary step. It is a roadmap that will not only ease the life of common man through cheap power but also give the country green energy. It is evidence that Nitish Kumar never makes any announcement without budgetary planning,' Prasad told The Indian Express. The Nitish Kumar government is looking to dovetail this push with its roadmap for the state's industrial growth, which would get a boost from abundant cheap power. In 2016, the state rolled out its industrial policy, providing various incentives to attract investments. The state has received investment proposals worth over Rs 1.81 lakh crore so far, of which projects worth Rs 84,000 crore have been committed. Government sources said the renewable energy sector is expected to contribute significantly to the investment growth in the state. 'One pumped storage project awaiting approval alone is worth over Rs 36,000 crore. The new renewable energy policy will expedite the project,' an official in the state Industry Department said. According to Mihir Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary of the Industry Department, textiles, leather, and food processing are among the fastest-growing sectors in Bihar, aided in part by the shifting global trade dynamics. 'Whatever is happening in the world in terms of trade tariffs is benefiting industry here. This is an opportune moment for India to bring business back, especially in ready-made garments,' Singh said, noting that India's main competitors in this area remain Indonesia, Bangladesh and China. He claimed how Bihar's 'cost-effective and trained' labour pool, mainly comprising returned migrant workers, gives it an edge. 'Migrant labour is willing to come back to Bihar. Water is plentiful, land is fertile, and labour is cheap,' he said. Singh noted that the industrial investments in the textile sector have increased in districts like Muzaffarpur, Patna, Begusarai and Madhubani, where major companies are either setting up their units or expanding their presence. Bihar's industrial policy, particularly in sectors like textiles and food processing, has played a 'catalytic role', he said, listing '100% GST subvention, stamp duty waivers, and infrastructure support for large investments' among its key incentives. Singh pointed out that while Bihar is rising agriculturally, especially in the production of food grains and pulses, it has been lagging in the establishment of the food processing infrastructure. 'Even in the green bowls of Bihar like the old Shahabad region, raw produce is procured by middlemen and processed in western UP. This is what we are trying to change,' he said. The additional chief secretary cited animal feed manufacturing as having 'tremendous potential', referring to Bihar's high maize production and low prices. 'We are the maize bowl of India. It is the cheapest here at Rs 22 per kg. Only soya comes from outside. All big companies are now coming here,' he claimed. Singh said the MSME sector is also investing in makhana (fox nut) processing, with several projects getting underway in the state. On the ethanol front, Bihar is said to enjoy an advantage over traditional sugar-producing states. 'All sugar factories in the South and Maharashtra are water-stressed. That gives us an advantage. Our only real competition is from UP,' Singh said. He however flagged a bottleneck in this regard – that the ethanol production quota is set by the Centre. 'We are quickly exhausting our quota. We have written to the Centre to raise it, but things haven't moved. If India has to reach 25% ethanol blending, Bihar's quota has to be increased.' Beyond these priority areas, Singh pointed to a broader momentum in general manufacturing, buoyed by global headwinds. 'In a recent buyer-seller meet in Patna, we hosted 85 buyers from 20 countries. For the first time, we exported 15 tonnes of litchi to the Lulu Group,' he said.
Hans India
30 minutes ago
- Hans India
Has EC become BJP's ‘election chori branch': Rahul slams SIR
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the Election Commission has been caught 'red handed' stealing votes in the name of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, and asked whether the poll body has completely become BJP's 'Election chori branch'. The EC has all along maintained that the revision, being held after 22 years, will cleanse the voters' list of ineligible people, duplicate entries and include those eligible as per law to vote. Gandhi shared a post by Ajit Anjum, whose YouTube channel is running a series on special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. 'Election Commission in Bihar has been caught red handed stealing votes in the name of 'SIR'. Work - just theft but name is 'SIR' and FIR will be lodged against the one who exposes it!' Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. 'Is EC still 'Election Commission' or has it completely become BJP's 'Election Chori' branch?' the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. Anjum has been accused of spreading communal tensions in Begusarai district by the local administration. He had denied the allegation and shared a screenshot of an FIR lodged against him. Opposition parties have asserted that the ongoing exercise will disfranchise crores of eligible Indian citizens for the want of citizenship documents. On Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar thanked the eligible voters of Bihar for their active participation in the 'much-needed' cleaning of the electoral rolls during SIR. Kumar's remarks came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court hearing a clutch of pleas questioning the intent behind the SIR ahead of the assembly polls in the state later this year. Rahul talking about corruption is like a thief donning the role of a watchman, the BJP said on Thursday, as it lashed out at the Congress leader for claiming that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will be put in jail by his party on graft charges. BJP national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam accused Gandhi of trying to spread chaos in his bid to look for excuses for the Congress' frequent poll defeats, noting that he is himself facing corruption charges and is on bail, a reference to the National Herald case. 'He considers himself a king but people have rejected him three times, repeatedly trashing his model based on corruption and anarchy,' Islam told reporters, a day after Gandhi created a stir with his statement in Assam that Congress workers will send Sarma to jail and that his party will sweep the assembly polls to be held next year. 'It is like a thief donning the role of a watchman,' he said, asserting that Sarma is a popularly elected leader whose good governance has been endorsed by voters of the state. He has not won due to Gandhi's generosity, the BJP leader said in a swipe. The BJP spokesperson alleged that Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders, including RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, are trying to spread chaos by targeting the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar.
Hans India
30 minutes ago
- Hans India
Freebies before polls: 125 units of free power to all households in Bihar
Patna: In a major populist move ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced free power up to 125 units to all domestic consumers in the state. Kumar came up with the announcement on social media, stating that the benefit will reach 1.67 crore households. He also said the free power benefit will be effective from August 1. 'This means that no charges will be levied for 125 units in the bills for July itself,' said Kumar, who also claimed 'we have already been providing cheap electricity to all consumers'. Notably, the longest-serving CM of the state has for long been a votary of 'one nation, one tariff', claiming that under the present circumstances, Bihar was getting electricity from the grid at a high rate. Kumar's latest move comes in the backdrop of the promise of '200 units of free electricity' by his rival and former deputy Tejashwi Yadav, whose RJD helms the opposition INDIA bloc in the state. In his social media post, the JD(U) supremo also made a strong pitch for promoting solar power in Bihar, stating that an estimated 10,000 MW will be produced in the state through the alternative source of energy in the next three years. He spoke of 'Kutir Jyoti Yojana', a fully state-funded scheme, which entails the installation of solar panels at public places as well as the rooftops of poor people's houses with their consent.
