LUCKNOW, Dec. 25 -- The Uttar Pradesh government has not taken a final decision yet on the privatisation of the power sector, and any move in this direction will be guided by the larger public interest, energy minister AK Sharma told the House on Wednesday. Replying to a question by Samajwadi Party (SP) member Ragini Sonkar during question hour on the fourth and last day of the winter session of the UP legislative assembly, Sharma also clarified that there was no difference in electricity readings recorded by smart meters and old meters. "During meter replacement, old meters are left in place to ensure parallel readings in 5% of cases, and there have been no complaints regarding this," Sharma said while replying to SP MLA Anil Pradhan who alleged new metres were recording inflated readings. Responding to allegations that the government was purchasing electricity at higher rates from the Adani Group, Sharma countered by referring to decisions taken during the SP regime. "In 2014, when the Samajwadi Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh, the government entered into a contract with TSK Mahanadi and purchased electricity at rates higher by one rupee per unit. Just think, the rate was Rs.6.25 per unit 11 years ago," minister said. Sharma also claimed that power generation in the state increased significantly after the BJP-led government came to power in 2017. "If we add together the tenures of the Congress and Samajwadi Party governments from 1947 to 2017, a period of 70 years, the total power generation capacity of state undertakings was 5,878 megawatts. We have increased it to 11,760 megawatts," he said. The minister further said that the BJP government has electrified over 2.5 lakh hamlets in villages while SP government had left at around 1.5 lakh. "Not just power generation, but distribution also is taking place. The Badlapur MLA can see this but you cannot in Machhali Shahar. Glasses will be needed to see this," he added....