Odisha seeks roll back of farm power tariff hike

The state government today filed a review petition with the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) urging the power regulator to withdraw hike in electricity tariff for the agriculture sector.

Last month, OERC had increased the tariff of electricity used for agricultural purpose by 40 paise a unit - a rise of 36 per cent for 2015-16. The tariff hike for the farm sector, which was done after a gap of 15 years, had kicked off sharp protests from various opposition political parties and pressure groups.

In its petition, the government pleaded OERC to reconsider the tariff hike order on the farm sector keeping in view the economic lot of the farmers and the contribution of the agriculture sector to the state's economy. "Agriculture being the principal source of livelihood for more than two-third population of the state, the commission while effecting such awkward revision in agriculture could have taken into account the poor financial condition of the low-end consumers especially in the state of Odisha", the petition said.

"The economy of the state of Odisha is an agrarian economy and the farmers are largely dependent on electricity for irrigation. In view of the above, hike in electricity tariff for agriculture will have a negative impact and as such it will have a bearing on the economy of the state", it added.

A state official said, "The tariff hike on farm sector could have fetched around Rs 10 crore annually. The amount can be easily adjusted through cross subsidy tariff order."

The government had decided to file petition in OERC bowing to the demands of the Opposition parties that paralysed proceedings of the last assembly over the issue.

Apart from the hike in farm power tariff, the regulator has also increased the rates for other category of consumers in the state for FY16. The average rise in retail supply tariff is 20 paise a unit, which works out to 4.2 per cent hike over the current rates, across all slabs. The new rates have come into effect from April 1. The revised tariff of power used for agricultural purposes will be Rs 1.50 a unit, compared to Rs 1.10 a unit, which was last fixed in 2000. Consumers belonging to the below-poverty-line (BPL) category will now have to pay Rs 80 a month, compared with Rs 65 earlier, for 30 units.