VIJAYAWADA: In a major relief to power consumers ahead of the 2019 general election, power distribution companies (discoms) in the state on Saturday made it clear that there will be no increase in electricity tariff for the next financial year (2019-20). Farmers will get seven hours of free power supply a day. There will also be free power supply to dhobi ghats and nursery farmers.The no-hike proposal comes in the wake of assurance by the state government that it will bear the additional financial burden in the form of subsidy to discoms. Charging stations for electric vehicles will get power at reduced tariff.The two discoms in the state, APEPDCL and APSPDCL, submitted their annual revenue requirement (ARR) to the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) in Hyderabad on Saturday. In their proposals, the discoms said there will be no change in tariff despite increase in average cost of supply by 1.49 per unit.The proposal needs to be accepted by the APERC for implementation. The discoms, which submitted proposals separately, said 1.64 crore power consumers in AP will stand to benefit from no hike in tariff. They include 1.32 crore low tension (domestic) consumers. Referring to agricultural connections, the discoms said farmers will get seven hours of free power supply, benefiting around 17 lakh agricultural consumers.

Stay updated with all the Latest Vijayawada headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.