A little over 18 per cent of industries and commercial establishments in Haryana were found stealing electricity in raids conducted by power utilities in the last one-and-a-half years, according to the power ministry.
Six massive raids were conducted in which 1.27 lakh electricity connections were checked and nearly 23,000 were caught for power theft, said officials. A total fine of Rs 84 crore has been imposed on those found guilty till now, said officials.
After a green signal from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala ordered the first such raid in February 2021. As many as 236 teams were involved in checking 7,710 connections in two days and they detected power theft in 2,735, a whopping 35 per cent of the raided connections.
