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Home > News > India News > Article > Delhi may get high charge power

Delhi may get high charge power

Updated on: 18 March,2010 07:21 AM IST  | 
Amit Kumar |

Tariff hike on the cards, rates may go up by 15 per cent

Delhi may get high charge power

Tariff hike on the cards, rates may go up by 15 per cent

At a time when the inflation rate is going through the roof, Delhiites may get a double blow as a power tariff hike is on the cards. If sources in the power ministry are to be believed, formal announcement in this regard can be made anytime.

An increase in bulk supply tariff (BST), fuel price adjustment (FPA) and hike in coal prices, can force an upward revision of power tariff, not only by Delhi discoms but by all state power distribution utilities. The Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) report tabled in the Parliament on February 25 has also strongly recommended a substantial hike in the power tariff structure across the country including Delhi, which may see an increase of 15 per cent.

"Absence of timely tariff hikes has increased the gap and has impaired utility operations further. Some states have not raised tariffs for the past eight to nine years, despite increasing deficits," the report says.

"The announcement of a coal cess of Rs 50 per tonne in the Union Budget is set to increase the cost of power

SC verdict

On March 16, the Supreme Court gave green signal to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to cap profit margin on trading of electricity. The move could make power tariff more consumer friendly.
Importantly, a five-judge constitution bench held that power traders can no longer rush to the Electricity Tribunals every now and then to question the validity of CERC regulations and in the process stall their implementation.

generation further, by three to four paise per unit. That, in turn, will lead to a rise in the cost of procuring power, thereby leading to a hike in power tariffs not just in Delhi, but across the country," said an expert of the power sector.

"Cost of power procurement is very expensive. Revenue gap has been submitted in the ARR (aggregate revenue requirement), an account summary of expenditure and income, to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and the DERC is supposed to take the decision soon," said a discom official.

Last year, the DERC had rejected the claim of discoms to hike the power tariff. It had said that the firms had presented inflated figures of their expenditure and grossly underplayed their income to make a case for a steep increase in rates.




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