Mysore chamber opposes power tariff hike

The Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MC#CI) has strongly objected to the frequent application being made by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) for power tariff revision in the state.

The MCCI said it has strong reservations on various reasons given by the KPTCL in support of its claim for revision of tariff like commissioning of HT/EHT stations and line augmentation works.

In a petition filed before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), the MCCI questioned the KPTCL's past performance, efficiency and capability to achieve the targets.

MCC Energy Committee Chairman K Ravindra Prabhu has compiled the objections, after carefully going through the KPTCL application. Achievement for the previous year has not even touched 25 per cent of the target, putting a question mark on the ability of the KPTCL and the ESCOMs to reach their targetted figures.

The KPTCL?s assertion that the depreciation available is not sufficient to repay the loan due to its own accounting procedures, followed over the years, is not an excuse to further burden the consumers by way of seeking advance depreciation, the MCCI said.

The MCCI also objects to various historical reasons given by the KPTCL like energy purchases and power purchase agreements earlier made in support of the tariff revision, for the simple reason that consumers were not consulted and are kept in dark on all these issues.

The MCCI has every reason to question the ability and efficiency of the KPTCL/escoms in carrying out various capital intensive projects in a time-bound manner by looking at its past achievements.