17-07-2025
Nitish announces free electricity up to 125 units months before Bihar polls
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced free electricity for all domestic consumers up to 125 units, months before assembly elections are due in October-November this year. This is the first such move in the state and the latest in the series of sops ahead of polls. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. (HT PHOTO)
'We have been providing electricity to everyone at affordable rates from the beginning. We have now decided that, starting from August 1, 2025, and effective for the July bill, all domestic consumers in the state will not have to pay for electricity up to 125 units,' Kumar posted on X in Hindi.
He said the move will benefit 16.7 million families in the state. 'In the next three years, with the consent of all these domestic consumers, solar power plants will be installed on their rooftops or at nearby public places.' He said that the state government will cover the cost of installing solar power plants for extremely poor families under the Kutir Jyoti scheme.
'...for the rest, the government will provide appropriate support. This means domestic consumers will no longer have to bear any cost for electricity up to 125 units, and at the same time, it is estimated that within the next three years, up to 10,000 megawatts of solar energy will be available in the state.'
The fresh announcements came days after Bihar's finance department denied reports that the state government was going to provide free electricity to up to 100 units.
Urban domestic consumers in Bihar were charged ₹7.42 per unit for the first 100 units and ₹8.95 per unit above 100 units. These rates exclude the subsidy the government offers to power consumers. Rural domestic consumers pay at a flat rate of ₹7.42 per unit. The state government provides ₹15000 crore for the power subsidy.
In April, the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission offered around six million smart prepaid meter consumers of the total 20.8 million in the state 25 paise per unit (kilowatt per hour or kWh) rebate. The rebate was earlier 3% (2% prompt payment rebate within the due date, and 1% rebate on online recharge).
The ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) hailed Kumar's latest announcement, calling it historic. 'When Nitish Kumar formed the government, 700 MW of electricity was produced here. There was no electricity for even an hour in the villages. There was electricity for 7-8 hours in the cities. Today, the electricity production in Bihar has increased by 12 times to 8500 MW,' said JD (U) national working president Sanjay Jha. 'Today, 100% of the houses in Bihar are electrified.'
