Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced that every household in Punjab will get monthly 300 units of free electricity from July 1.
He said except for scheduled caste and backward class families, if electricity consumption exceeds 600 units in two months, then the consumer will have to pay for the entire power usage.
Scheduled Castes, backward castes, below-poverty-line households and freedom fighters currently getting free 200 units each month will now get 300 units of electricity monthly. But if their electricity consumption exceeds 600 units in two months, they will be charged just for over and above 600 units, the chief minister clarified.
"From 1st July 2022, every household in Punjab will have 300 units of free electricity every month - 600 units for 2 months. BC, BPL, freedom fighters households used to get 200 units of free electricity earlier, they too will now get 300 units free," Bhagwant Mann said.
"Households that consume more than 600 units of electricity in 2 months, for instance - 640 units or 645 units - will need to pay only for the extra 40 or 45 units that they have consumed over and above 600 units," he added.
The state's information and public relations department had put out advertisements with the announcement in various newspapers that came out on Saturday morning.
This was one of the major poll promises of the Aam Aadmi Party during the Punjab assembly election. The party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal had promised free electricity of up to 300 units for the state in June last year.
Mann also announced waiving arrears of electricity bills pending till December 31, 2021, of those households having up to a two-kilowatt load. Moreover, he said there would be no increase in the electricity tariff for industrial and commercial consumers while free power to the farming community would continue.
"Punjab Government waives off dues of old electricity bills up to 31st December 2021 of households having load up to 2 kilowatts of electricity," he said.
The Punjab chief minister further said his government would ensure round-the-clock electricity supply to every village and town in two to three years. He said that his government would also provide the cheapest electricity in the country to the state's consumers.
"Rumours are being spread, but they have no truth in them. Subsidised electricity supply to farmers for farming will continue as it is," he added.
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, in a tweet, said what was promised has been honoured and after Delhi, the people of Punjab will also now get free electricity.
Mann had on Thursday said in Jalandhar that "good news" would be announced on April 16.
He had met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital on Tuesday to discuss the modalities of providing free electricity for up to 300 units in Punjab. Kejriwal had also met senior officials of Punjab, including chief secretary Anirudh Tewari, to discuss the issue of free electricity.
(With inputs from Agencies)
