AP discoms project Rs 7,700 cr revenue deficit for FY16

The govt is already considering a tariff hike in the range of 10-15pc while reimbursing the remaining revenue gap through enhanced power subsidy

Andhra Pradesh power utilities have projected a Rs 7,716-crore revenue gap for 2015-16 in their annual revenue requirement (ARR) filings submitted to the AP Electricity Regulatory Authority (APERC) on Tuesday.

The power utilities said they would be earning only Rs 22,592 crore as against the total revenue requirement of Rs 30,308 crore at the current tariffs. The average cost of supply (CoS) had risen 15.5 per cent to Rs 5.99 per unit or 80 paise per unit over the CoS approved for 2013-14.

The revenue gap projected by them provides a ground to increase the tariff beginning April this year. The government is already considering a tariff hike in the range of 10-15 per cent while reimbursing the remaining revenue gap through enhanced power subsidy.

The governments of both AP and Telangana were also compelled to increase the power charges as bankers had restructured the power sector debts in the undivided state on a condition that there would be a tariff hike every year.

According to the filings, the power utilities have proposed to meet an unrestricted demand of of 58,191 million units (mu) for the year. This includes the entire power generation (15,581 mu) of Hinduja and Krishnapatnam projects, on which Telangana is also staking a claim for its share.