Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday announced that domestic electricity consumers across the poll-bound state will be provided up to 125 units of power free of cost every month starting August 1. The scheme will benefit over 1.67 crore households and will apply to electricity consumption from the billing cycle of July.
This comes weeks after the Bihar government announced its decision to nearly triple the social security pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 per month for 1.1 crore beneficiaries.
Announcing the decision, Nitish Kumar said the initiative aims to reduce the financial burden on common households. “We have decided that domestic consumers will not have to pay anything for electricity up to 125 units,” he stated, while also asserting that the government would bear the cost of implementing the subsidy in full. The announcement was made during a meeting of the state energy department, where he also reviewed preparations for expanding the state’s renewable energy capacity.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar till last year was against free electricity. What happened in election year that he is offering 125 units of free electricity now.
The pressure of poor performance has now gripped the Bihar government. pic.twitter.com/RIzDdCzw8J
— With Love Bihar (@WithLoveBihar) July 17, 2025
The move comes ahead of the Bihar polls scheduled for October–November this year, and is being widely seen as a major pre-election sop. Opposition parties, particularly the RJD, were quick to react. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed credit for the initiative, stating that Nitish Kumar had adopted his earlier promise of 200 units free electricity for every household. JD(U) leaders, however, defended the government’s decision, terming it a “gift to the people” and a reflection of the administration’s pro-poor commitments.
Alongside the free electricity scheme, the government also announced a solar energy initiative under the Kutir Jyoti scheme. Under this programme, solar power units will be installed on rooftops or on public land near houses over the next three years. For extremely poor families, the state will cover the entire cost of solar panel installation. Others will receive subsidies depending on income category. The aim, the government said, is to gradually reduce the dependence on the grid and enhance access to clean energy, with a target of adding 10,000 megawatts of solar generation capacity in the next three years.
Currently, urban consumers in Bihar pay ₹7.42 per unit for the first 100 units of power, and ₹8.95 per unit thereafter, while rural consumers pay a flat rate of ₹7.42 per unit. The state already spends around ₹15,000 crore annually on power subsidies, and officials indicated that the new scheme would increase the subsidy burden substantially. However, the chief minister has directed the energy department to make necessary budgetary provisions to ensure uninterrupted implementation.
This is not the first time Bihar has experimented with free power or clean energy initiatives. In recent years, the government has set up canal-top solar projects and village-level mini grids under its Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan. But Wednesday’s announcement marks the largest universal subsidy yet in the state’s power sector.
As the campaign season picks up, the scheme is expected to be a central plank of Nitish Kumar’s electoral pitch, particularly among rural and middle-class voters struggling with inflation and rising utility bills.