Hyderabad: The power tariff hike rocked the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday as the Opposition YSRC, which had decided to boycott the Session, caught the ruling party off-guard by participating in the discussion and demanding a roll-back.

Giving his statement, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said he would not have allowed the power tariff hike if there was even a little scope to avoid it. “But the hike had become inevitable,” he claimed

The CM asked the people to “understand” the status of AP after the bifurcation and whole-heartedly support the “meagre 5 per cent hike”.

Naidu also explained that 86 per cent of the consumers are exempted from the hike as they consume less than 200 units and the hike is not applicable to them.

Naidu went on to say that three tubelights, two fans, one television set, a refrigerator, a mixer and a grinder can be operated per connection and consumption will not cross 200 units in a month.

To offset the negative impact of power tariff hike on the TD, Naidu also announced 9-hour power supply to the agriculture sector. Currently, farmers get 7 hour of free power.