Gandhinagar, Dec 18 (IANS): After newly formed Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments announced a waiver on farmers' debts, the BJP-ruled Gujarat government, too, waived power dues worth Rs 625 crore.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday decided to forgo the dues of residential, commercial and agricultural power connections with immediate effect.

Minister for Power Saurabh Patel said, "We have decided to waive all the dues from such power connections with immediate effect from December 19. There are more than 6.22 lakh consumers with such connections, who will be able to avail of the one-time settlement by paying just Rs 500. The total dues of such connections are around Rs 625 crore."

The minister said that even those who have lost their power connections permanently or temporarily due to non-payment of dues will also be able to avail of the waiver and could get their connections restored. "This is a historic decion, said Saurabh Patel.

Minister of state for Power Pradeepsinh Chudasama said, "The waiver also applies to customers against whom there are charges of power theft as well as non-payment due to financial problems. The procedure to restore the disconnected power connections will be initiated shortly."

All the residential, commercial and agricultural power connections with dues till December 18 will be considered eligible for the one-time waiver. It will be available from December 19 2018 to February 28, 2019.