Taking exception to the hefty power tariff hike announced recently by the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the Opposition urged the government to declare subsidy immediately for poor consumers in the state to offset the burden of the hike.
The demand for subsidy was made by the Opposition benches during a threadbare discussion following an adjournment motion on the matter moved by Opposition Chief Whip and senior Congress leader Prasad Harichandan.
Initiating discussion on the motion, Harichandan said, “On one hand, the government claims it had recommended to the OERC not to hike power tariff. On the other hand, it presents the losses made by the distribution companies to the commission and asks it to arrive at a tariff based on the cost of power supply. This government is taking the people of the state for a ride.”
Referring to Section 65 of the Indian Electricity Act-2003 which allows state governments to fix subsidy for any class of consumers, the senior Congress legislator demanded an immediate announcement of a subsidy for the poor consumers.
Citing instances of states which are offering subsidy to the domestic consumers, Harichandan said, “Andhra Pradesh has announced subsidy of Rs 7,000 crore for tariff balancing. Punjab had also declared subsidy of Rs 3,144.25 crore in 2009-10. Even our neighbouring state Jharkhand has declared subsidy of Rs 1,000 crore while Tamil Nadu's subsidy on power tariff stood at Rs 1,627.13 crore in 2010-11. If these states are offering subsidy, there is no reason why Orissa cannot provide the same.”
Though the government has raked in revenue of Rs 12,000 crore in the energy sector in the past 12 years, it has not given even a single rupee of subsidy, he alleged.
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Stating that the Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses in the state had touched 43 per cent due to operational inefficiency of the distribution companies (discoms), Harichandan said, in the name of ‘cross subsidy’, the government was burdening the ordinary consumers with a hike to bail out the discoms.
“The power tariff for the first slab (or the first 50 units) has been raised from Rs 1.40 per unit to Rs 2.20 per unit which means that the consumers have to pay 89 per cent more. In the next slab with consumption ranging from 50-200 units, the revised tariff stands at Rs 3.50 per unit, meaning an increase of 45 per cent for consumers in billing,” he added.
Joining the debate, BJP legislature party leader K V Singhdeo said, the power tariff hike which is going to be effective from April 1 coinciding with Utkal Divas (Orissa Day) would have a cascading effect on the poorest of the poor.
Clarifying the position on the power tariff hike, minister for energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said, “The OERC has explained that the power tariff hike has been necessitated by a host of factors including an unexpected fall in hydro power generation, spurt in prices of coal and furnace oil, additional cost borne on maintenance and upgrade of electricity lines and substations as well as salary hike of employees.”
Stating that Grid Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Gridco) was bleeding due to purchase of high cost power, the minister said, owing to coal price hike, the state utility had to buy power at the rate of Rs 2.21 paisa per unit compared to the price of Rs 1.97 paisa per unit fixed by the commission.