Fulfilling yet another major poll promise, the Aam Aadmi Party government today gave a new year gift to the people of Delhi, announcing a 50 per cent subsidy on power consumption of up to 400 units, and appears all set to order a CAG audit of three private power distribution companies.
A day after implementing the first promise of free water supply of 667 litres a day, a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal got down to the business of providing relief to the citizens on the power front.
However, the rider here - like in the decision on free water yesterday - was that consumption above 400 units would attract full charges from zero base.
The Chief Minister said the burden on account of enlarging the subsidy will be Rs 200 crore for the next three months, although the cash outgo will be Rs 61 crore and the rest will be a book adjustment.
After today's decision, which will come into effect from tomorrow for three months, people consuming up to 200 units would have to pay Rs 1.95 per unit against the current rate of Rs 2.70.
For units above 201 and up to 400, the charges will be Rs 2.90 per unit against the current Rs 5.
In effect, the 50 per cent subsidy will amount to 20 per cent in the case of the first 200 units and around 35 per cent for consumption between 201 and 400 units since today's decision is applicable on rates revised in August last.
The previous Sheila Dikshit government had given Rs 1.20 subsidy on the rates for consumption of up to 200 units and 80 paise between 201 and 400 units.
Simultaneously, Kejriwal also began work on bringing the three power distribution companies - BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd - under the purview of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
