The proposed hike in power tariff in Orissa will generate an additional earning of Rs 1171.97 crore in the current financial year for the four distribution companies (discoms) operating in the state.
While Central Electricity Supply Utility of Orissa Ltd (Cesu) will earn an additional income of Rs 384.67 crore, the additional earnings for Northern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Nesco), Western Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Wesco) and Southern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Sothco) would be Rs 308.81 crore, Rs 364.21 crore and Rs 114.21 crore respectively, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said in the state assembly.
Going by the revised tariff order of Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the discoms are set to earn Rs 7109.56 crore in 2011-12 compared to Rs 5937.6 crore which they would have earned as per the earlier tariff.
The upward revision in power tariff by OERC was necessitated by rising cost of power generation, the minister said.
“While OERC had fixed the tariff of bulk purchase of power by Gridco at Rs 1.74 per unit, there was escalation in cost of inputs like coal and furnace oil. Besides, hydro power generation has dipped drastically. Consequently, the cost at which Gridco had to buy power had gone up to Rs 2.03 by the end of December 2010. Due to rising cost of coal, it is estimated that the average bulk purchase price is set to reach Rs 2.10 per unit”, he added.
The power tariff hike was supposed to be effective from April 1 but the Orissa High Court, acting on a public interest litigation on last Thursday, has stayed the hike.
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Alleging that electricity generation, transmission and distribution are being done in a very arbitrary manner by the private companies in the state without any transparency in their fund management, the PIL had demanded a CBI enquiry into the allegations.
In a notification issued by OERC, the power tariff was increased by nearly 20 per cent overall. However, the move was particularly harsh on domestic consumers who were subjected to a 40 per cent hike.
The domestic consumers now have to pay Rs 1.40 per unit for the first 50 units, instead of first 100 units as provisioned earlier.
Similarly, up to use of 200 units, they will now have to pay Rs 3.50 per unit while for consumption of electricity between 200 and 400 units, the tariff will be Rs 4.30 per unit.
Consumers using above 400 units would be charged at the rate of Rs 4.80 per unit. Earlier, consumers had to pay Rs 3.10 per unit to use up to 200 units and Rs 4.10 per unit for consumption beyond 200 units.