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Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), on Monday approved an average electricity tariff hike of 32 paise per unit ranging from 10 paise to 50 paise per unit for different categories of consumers other than irrigation pumpsets and Bhagya Jyothi / Kuteer Jyothi households.
This is against the 66 paise per unit increase sought by the electricity supply companies (Escoms) uniformly for all categories of consumers other than IP set users and Bhagya Jyothi / Kuteer Jyothi beneficiaries, KERC said in a statement.
The tariff increase for domestic consumers is 20 paise per unit for monthly consumption of less than 30 units and 30 paise per unit for consumption exceeding 30 units. The revised tariff for domestic consumers in urban areas will be Rs 2.70 per unit for 30 units, Rs 4 per unit for consumption between 31 and 100 units, Rs 5.25 per unit for consumption between 101 and 200 units and Rs 6.25 per unit beyond 200 units per month.
For domestic consumers in rural areas, the revised rates will be Rs 2.60 per unit up to 30 units, Rs 3.70 per unit between 31 and 100 units, Rs 4.95 per unit between 101 and 200 units and Rs 5.75 per unit beyond 200 units per month.
For residential apartments under HT category, the tariff has been increased from Rs 4.90 to Rs 5.30 per unit.
The tariff for Commercial and Industrial consumers across the State has been increased by 30 to 40 paise per unit. The revised rates for LT industrial units in Bangalore and other Municipal Corporation areas will be Rs 4.75 per unit for the first 500 units (30 paise increase) and Rs 5.85 per unit for consumption above 500 units (40 paise increase).
In other areas, the new rates will be Rs 4.55 per unit for the first 500 units (30 paise increase), Rs 5.35 per unit for consumption from 501 to 1,000 units (40 paise increase) and Rs 5.65 per unit for consumption above 1,000 units (40 paise increase).
For LT commercial units, the new tariff in urban areas including Bangalore and other city corporation areas will be Rs 6.75 per unit for the first 50 units and Rs 7.75 per unit for consumption beyond 50 units. In the rural areas, the new rates will be Rs 6.25 per unit for the first 50 units and Rs 7.25 per unit for consumption beyond 50 units. The increase in all these categories is 30 paise per unit.
For the HT industrial users in BBMP and other City Municipal Corporation areas, the new tariff will be Rs 5.75 per unit for the first 100,000 units (40 paise increase) and Rs 6.15 per unit for consumption beyond 100,000 units (40 paise increase). In all other areas, the new rates will be Rs 5.70 and Rs 6 respectively (35 paise increase).
For HT commercial users, in Bangalore and other city corporation areas, the new tariff will be Rs 7.35 per unit for the first 200,000 units of consumption and Rs 7.65 per unit for consumption beyond 200,000 units. In all other areas, the new rates will be Rs 7.15 and Rs 7.45 respectively. In all these categories, the increase is 40 paise per unit.
Government subsidy
The amount of subsidy to be paid by the state government towards free supply of electricity to 2.13 million IP sets below 10 HP, and 2.29 million Bhagyajyothi / Kuteerjyothi households has increased by 17.22 per cent to Rs 6,308 crore for 2014-15 from Rs 5,381 crore paid for 2013-14.
The bulk of this increase is on account of the increase in the average cost of power purchase, which has gone up from the estimated Rs 3.20 per unit in 2013-14 to Rs 3.59 per unit in 2014-15.
Annual Revenue Requirement
On a detailed review of the Tariff Applications of the Escoms for the Financial Year 2014-15, the KERC has approved a total expenditure of Rs 27,860 crore for all the Escoms, which would be supplying about 50,097 million units (excluding Transmission & Distribution losses of about 18.44 per cent) during FY15.
The Escoms will procure during the present year about 61,722 Million Units as against 56,794 Million Units procured for FY13, an increase of 8.6 per cent. The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will account for close to 50 per cent of the energy procured at 30,557 Million Units with an annual revenue requirement (ARR) of Rs 14,213 crore for FY15.
