AP govt announces power tariff hike

Andhra Pradesh government today announced a five per cent hike in power tariff for domestic consumers who use more than 200 units per month.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who made a statement in the Legislative Assembly said the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for 2015-16 is Rs 25,515 crore, while revenue from tariff as approved by Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) is Rs 22,329 crore, leaving a revenue gap of Rs 3,186 crore.
He said 133 lakh consumers (86 per cent) out of total 154.8 lakh consumers are unaffected by the tariff increase.
All domestic consumers for consumption below 200 units per month and 14.69 lakh agriculture consumers are also not affected by the hike.

In addition, energy charges remain unchanged for 9.5 lakh consumers, including all commercial consumers for consumption below 100 units per month and other categories of consumers like religious places, poultry farms and cottage industries, he said.
The 'up to five per cent hike' applies to 12.30 lakh consumers.

No Fuel Supply Adjustment (FSA) has been imposed on consumers for FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16.
Alleging that the power sector has been bungled up during Congress rule in the last 10 years, Naidu said power is a priority area for his government.
Observing that his government in his previous term had put power sector on the path of progress by bringing reforms, he said, he is now determined to provide quality and reliable power to facilitate development in all sectors.

The state government has improved power situation in the state in just one month after it assumed office and took several initiatives like increasing power generation capacity in the state and controlling theft and commercial losses.
AP is among the three states selected by the Centre for the '24x7 power for all' programme, an ultra mega solar park is being set up at Anantapur among other initiatives, he said.