Three months ahead of assembly elections in the state in December, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced waiver of a fuel surcharge on electricity bills of domestic and agriculture category charged for above 200 units.

“Fuel surcharge will not be applicable even to bills above 200 units. Now, consumers will not have to pay fuel surcharge even after consuming more than 200 units of electricity. The government will pay the fuel charge for electricity bills of all domestic and agricultural categories,” Gehlot declared after launching a free-smartphone scheme here at Birla Auditorium.

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“For this, the government will bear a financial burden of 2,500 crore and pay it to the power companies,” he said.

The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) had earlier fixed a fuel surcharge limit up to 15 per cent per unit of consumption and it can vary depending on the available rate of coal in winter and summer seasons.

The state chief minister said it was part of the annual budget announcement and in Ist phase a target has been set up to distribute mobiles to 40 lakh women, and remaining 40 lakh would be given in second phase.