Power tariff hiked by average 9.48 per cent in Madhya Pradesh

In the Industrial category, the power hike is 5.02 per cent and in the Agriculture sector the power hike is 13.32 per cent.

Bhopal, Apr 2: Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) has increased the power tariff by an average 9.48 per cent. The new rate will be applicable from April 10. Following the hike, the power bill of an average family that consumes around 200 units of power will now be Rs 1367 (approx.) hence, it will register an increase of Rs 137 per month from April onwards.

In the industrial category, the power hike is 5.02 per cent and in the agriculture sector the power hike is 13.32 per cent.

The power tariff in Madhya Pradesh is already high as compared to Chhattisgarh and Delhi. Power in Madhya Pradesh is 300 per cent costlier than Delhi and 200 per cent more when compared with Chhattisgarh.

For public water works the power tariff has gone up 13.18 per cent while the raise is 7.83 per cent for domestic consumers.

The rise comes in the wake of the demand made by the power distribution companies which sought an hike of 10.62 per cent against the revenue gap, i.e., the difference between the income and expenditure of the discoms of Rs 452 crores for financial year 2017-18. MPERC, after going through all the documents and objections raised by the consumers and consumer groups, allowed an average increase of 9.48 per cent.

In their tariff review petition for 2017-18, discoms had requested the MPERC to increase the power rates of consumers using less than 30 units of power from Rs 2.90 per unit to Rs 3.00 per unit but MPERC has increased it to Rs 3.10 per unit.

Sources said that there is no embargo that MPERC will increase only that much power tariff as sought by discoms, but the decision to revise tariff is taken as per the regulations and the revenue requirements.