25 p.c. increase in power tariff

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 2. The Government has hiked the power tariff by 25 per cent with effect from August 10 to raise an additional revenue of Rs. 600 crores for the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

Domestic consumers drawing below 20 units of electricity monthly will continue to be exempted from paying any tariff. Paddy cultivators too have been exempted as before. In the case of other crops, supply of free power will be to those farmers holding upto two hectares only.

Announcing the revision at a press conference today, the Electricity Minister, Mr. Kadavoor Sivadasan, said the hike would not apply to orphanages, old-age homes and school hostels for the deaf and the blind. Such institutions need pay only at the existing rates.

Power supplied to the Railways for the electrification of railway lines in the State too will be at the existing rates till March 31, 2002. This is because of an agreement the Government had earlier signed with the Railways.

The Minister said `differential pricing' system would be introduced for all high tension consumers except cinema theatres and water supply pumping stations. This system already exists for extra high tension consumers.

It means that high tension consumers will be charged different rates for the power consumed at different periods of the day. During peak hours of demand, the rate will be high to discourage the tendency to consume power heavily while it will be low during the hours of low overall demand.

``This had been a longstanding demand of the industry,'' Mr. Sivadasan said.

Between 6.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m. (peak hours), high tension consumers will have to pay Rs. 1.72 more than the normal rate for the power drawn by them. From 10.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m., there will be an incentive for them in the form of a concession of around 45 paise per unit. During the day-time, from 6.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., normal tariff inclusive of the present hike of 25 per cent will apply.

He said a special formula was being adopted to encourage higher consumption during non-peak hours. In the case of industries which are not power-intensive, their average day- time consumption during the months of May, June and July would be taken as base for the present tariff hike. For the power consumed above this average level, the industry concerned need pay the charges only at the pre-tariff-hike rate.

This concession will be extended only for two years from the date of this tariff hike (August 10, 2001), or till the Tariff Regulatory Commission (being constituted shortly) takes a decision to revise it further.

As a major gesture to the industries, the Government also withdrew the stipulation that all power-intensive units should generate 50 per cent of the power required by them by setting up captive power plants. ``I hope this decision will be to the advantage of new power-intensive units and also to the existing ones which are contemplating modernisation or expansion,'' Mr. Sivadasan said.

For introducing `differential pricing', the high tension consumers will have to install `time-of-the-day' metres in their units. Extra high tension consumers in the State have already done so and are availing the benefits of the `differential pricing' system.

The Minister said the Government would `examine favourably' the case of extending the `differential pricing' system to the low tension industrial power consumers also, if they were willing to install `time-of-the-day' metres in their units.

Describing the 25 per cent tariff hike as a `light one', Mr. Sivadasan said the Government did not wish to impose a heavier burden on the consumers `at this juncture'.

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