CESC allowed 13% tariff hike for FY12

RP-Sanjiv Goenka group's flagship company CESC Ltd was today allowed an average 13.29% increase in tariff from West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC), which would result in a gain of Rs 552 crore for the company for 2011-12.

The WBERC order gave retrospective effect for the hike from April 2011 and CESC's 2.4 million consumers will have to pay arrears for the current fiscal in 2012-13.

"We have learned that increase in average tariff had been allowed from Rs 5.19 to Rs 5.88 a unit," a CESC official said.

"We have not gone through the detailed order and hence we cannot give further details. But, the total revenue benefit would be close to Rs 552 crore," he added.

CESC had demanded hike of Rs 1.11 a unit on various heads but WBERC has allowed 69 paisa hike for 2011-12.

No WBERC official was available for comment on the tariff order.