Kejriwal’s ‘electricity model’ caused mass exodus of industries from Delhi: Maken 

New Delhi

In the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal stating that the latter’s “bijli (electricity) model” has caused a steep hike in the tariff of industrial and commercial electricity rates. 

Elaborating on the rates being the “highest in the country”, Mr. Maken said the increase in industrial rates has also resulted in a “mass exodus” of industries from the city

.He added, ”Most of these industries, which are non-polluting and household industries, do not want to set up their base in Delhi due to this increase. Simultaneously, this has also caused huge unemployment,” said Mr. Maken. 

“In 2020-21, Delhi’s average industrial rate is ₹13 per unit as compared to Uttarakhand’s ₹6.35 and Punjab’s ₹7.02. In 2020-21, the average commercial rate was ₹16.09 per unit, while Uttarakhand’s was at ₹6.56 and Punjab at ₹8.97. The gap with the neighbouring States has been widening ever since AAP came to power,” said Mr. Maken, while citing data from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC).