Industries want deferment of power tariff hike till April

About 20 industrial bodies, under the banner of Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers Association, today urged the state government to defer till April next the power tariff hike, proposed by Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC).
The bodies, which met and discussed the issue, were of the opinion that the present proposal to hike the tariff was unnecessary and unwanted, since there could be another revision again in April 2015, association President D Balasundaram told reporters here.
Stating that the tariff revision, as per the Electricity Act, was supposed to take place once in a year in April, he said TNERC has suo moto notified the proposal, cting the revenue deficit of TANGEDCO.

"The hike was announced without conducting enough consultation with consumers and various associated bodies. It was done in haste.
The last revision should have taken place in April this year, for which TANGEDCO had to send a proposal to the Commission in November 2013, but now it has been asked to send the proposal by the end of November for next revision to be taken place in April 2015, he pointed out.
The cost of power in the state had been highest in the country since 2010 except in 2012. Also, transmission and distribution loss had been high in the state for the last 20 years.