CORRECTED: China to hike power prices for outdated steel equipment - state planner

(Corrects to show increase to be added to current power rates not an overall price increase in second paragraph)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will impose higher power costs for steel mills operating outdated production equipment, the country's economic planner said in a statement on Tuesday.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ordered utilities to raise power prices by 0.5 yuan ($0.0719) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on top of current prices for steel mills preserving equipment that ought to be eliminated.

Steel firms owning restricted equipment will be charged 0.1 yuan per kWh more than current power prices, without defining what restricted equipment is.

The policy aims at promoting capacity cutting in the steel industry.

($1 = 6.9571 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)