Power tariff in UT hiked for all consumers

CHANDIGARH, OCT 8: The Chandigarh Administration has revised the power tariff in the Union Territory for all the categories of consumers....

CHANDIGARH, OCT 8: The Chandigarh Administration has revised the power tariff in the Union Territory for all the categories of consumers. The hike in tariff rates which range from 12 per cent for all slabs of domestic supply to 18 per cent for all other categories, would, however, come into effect from November 10.

The hike in power rates in UT has come about within a year, after the last hike initiated by the Administration on November 20 last year, when the rates were revised by about 15-20 per cent for domestic and 30 per cent for other consumers.

To compensate the poor and low-income group consumers, domestic consumers in UT using up to 100 units of power would get electricity at an average rate of Rs 1.33 per unit, against the purchase price of Rs 1.99 per unit. The commercial and industrial users will, however, have to pay more, though they are less than those existing in Panchkula for all categories of consumers. UT’s power rates are, however, lower than Punjab in the domestic category, but more in all other categories. The monthly minimum charges have not undergone revision. These are already lower than in Punjab.

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According to an official press release, the power tariff revision had become necessary because of the phenomenal increase in the energy consumption during this year and due to increase in the rates for purchase of power by UT.

The Administration has stated that the power requirement for UT has largely increased against than the annual anticipated increase of 5 per cent during last year. During April to August this year, the energy drawn by UT has increased by about 12 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year.

It is estimated that going by the present rate of increase during the current year, the growth would be to the tune of 10 per cent over that of last year. With Chandigarh having no source of power generation and has to buy power from the BBMB and other central generation projects, the excess power drawn by UT other than its firm and ad hoc allocation is charged at a heavy rate, the press release added.

Since the total purchase of power this year is estimated at Rs 150 crore, against Rs 125 crore last year, UT has said that the additional spending other than the allocated budget for power requirement will be met by the hike in power tariff. The Administration had also raise additional funds of Rs 33 crore for purchase of extra power. The Administration has stated that it does not wish to impose massive power cuts to reduce the power bill, which it feels is the only alternative to postponing of power tariff revision.

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