Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Thursday, announced a free electricity scheme for all domestic consumers in the state, months ahead of the assembly elections scheduled later this year. The CM announced that eligible households across the state will receive up to 125 units of electricity free of charge every month starting Aug. 1, 2025.
The scheme is expected to benefit around 1.67 crore families. The free units will be reflected in the July 2025 electricity bills.
“We have been providing electricity to everyone at affordable rates from the very beginning. Now we have decided that from August 1, 2025, that is, from the July bill itself, all domestic consumers in the state will not have to pay any money for electricity up to 125 units. This will benefit a total of 1 crore 67 lakh families in the state,” the CM said in a post on X.
Alongside the free electricity measure, Kumar also unveiled plans to promote renewable energy. Over the next three years, rooftop or community-based solar power systems will be installed with the consent of the residents.
“We have also decided that 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 to provide benefits,” the Bihar chief minister added.
हमलोग शुरू से ही सस्ती दरों पर सभी को बिजली उपलब्ध करा रहे हैं। अब हमने तय कर दिया है कि 1 अगस्त, 2025 से यानी जुलाई माह के बिल से ही राज्य के सभी घरेलू उपभोक्ताओं को 125 यूनिट तक बिजली का कोई पैसा नहीं देना पड़ेगा। इससे राज्य के कुल 1 करोड़ 67 लाख परिवारों को लाभ होगा। हमने यह…
To support the initiative, the state government will cover the full cost of solar panel installations for economically disadvantaged families. Others will receive financial support under the Kutir Jyoti scheme.
Under the Kutir Jyoti scheme, for extremely poor families, the state government will bear the entire cost of installing solar power plants, and 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,” Kumar wrote in the post.
This announcement follows a series of welfare measures unveiled by Kumar in the lead-up to the elections. A day earlier, he instructed the Education Department to assess the number of vacant posts in government schools and fast-track the process of conducting the fourth Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE 4), according to a report in NDTV. He also reaffirmed that the 35% reservation for women in government jobs would continue to apply exclusively to women domiciled in Bihar.
With the latest announcement, the ruling party appears to be stepping up its outreach efforts in a bid to secure voter confidence ahead of the upcoming polls.
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