Power tariff hiked by 2.47% in Gujarat

Effective from April 1, 2015, the new tariff will put an additional burden of Rs 781 cr annually on the consumers of the four discoms

Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) on Wednesday hiked power tariff by 2.47 per cent for both state owned power distribution companies as well as private players like Torrent Power Ltd (TPL).

Effective from April 1, 2015, the new tariff will put an additional burden of Rs 781 crore annually on the consumers of the four discoms, controlled by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) while TPL consumers will bear an additional burden of Rs 160 crore annually. The four power distribution companies are Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL), Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL), Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) and Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL).

The discoms had demanded 17 paisa per unit hike to manage loss but GERC has approved rise of 13 paisa per unit, for all the categories of consumers, except BPL, agriculture and residential consumers consuming electricity up to 200 units per month. Further, the state electricity regulator has directed these companies to make up the balance gap of Rs 215.58 Crore by improving operational efficiency.

While there is no increase in fixed charge of single phase residential consumers, a moderate increase will be seen in fixed charge by Rs 5 per month per installation for three phase residential consumers.

According to a GERC official, this hike will increase burden by 0.17 percent on residential consumers while on non residential consumer, it will be around 2.5 percent.

On the other hand, for Torrent Power Limited (TPL), GERC has approved 15 paisa a unit increase in tariff rates, witnessing a rise of 2.36 percent. Due to this rise, residential consumer will now have to pay 0.53 percent more on bill every year, while, non residential consumer will face rise by 2.76 percent in Ahmedabad and Surat, the GERC official informed. It is estimated that, with this increase in tariff, there will be additional revenue to the tune of Rs 159.75 Crore for the TPL. The commission has directed the TPL to make up the balance gap of Rs 97.23 crore by improving operational efficiency.

Apparently, TPL had asked for an average increase in tariff to the tune of 53 paise per unit to address the gap of Rs 566.98 crore claimed by them for both Ahmedabad and Surat area.

Meanwhile, in the Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) order, GERC has given targets of distribution losses of 5.15 percent for Surat distribution area and 8.50 percent for Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar distribution area. However, the actual distribution losses achieved by TPL were 4.33 percent in Surat area and 7.27 percent in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar area for the FY 2013-14 which is commendable.