Govt nod to provide 3,700-cr subsidies to eligible sections

Hyderabad: The state government has agreed to pay a total subsidy of Rs 3,700 crore to the eligible categories in agriculture, etc., entitled to free or concessional supply of power as against Rs 3,300 crore granted towards subsidy in FY 2016-17.

Chairman of AP Electricity Regulatory Commission Justice G Bhavani Prasad revealed this to the media while disclosing the details of the new power tariff here on Friday.

He said that as against the licensees' proposals for a much larger hike in fixed charges, as already stated, no fixed charges were imposed on 1.27 crore domestic consumers.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The subsidy provided to eligible categories in farm sector thus goes up by Rs 400 cr when compared to previous FY
• Goshalas shifted from industrial category to religious places thus bringing down the power tariff
• The capacity of rural horticulture nurseries has been increased to 25 HP from 15 HP so that they get the benefit of lower tariff

With the increase for LT-II consumers consuming up to 50 units per month, the fixed charges were reduced by Rs 0.12 per month.For cottage industries and agro-based industries under LT-IV, the fixed charges are retained at Rs 20. Similarly, for LT-V salt farming and rural horticulture nurseries, the fixed charges are retained at Rs 20.

For LT-VI (C) NTR Sujala Padhakam, the fixed charges are retained at Rs 10. In all other cases where the existing fixed charges are below Rs 30, the fixed charges are fixed at Rs 30. In other cases where the fixed charges are up to Rs 55.12, they are now fixed at Rs 75. In all other cases where the existing fixed charges are Rs 385.84, it is fixed at Rs 475.

Thus, the proposal of the licensees for increase from Rs 50 to Rs 1,500 per month for different categories was not accepted and the fixed charges are kept at reasonable and bearable levels.

The customer charges and other miscellaneous charges which remained static for a number of years are revised reasonably to be in tune with the decreasing value of money over the years and increasing expenditure of the distribution companies under various heads to fulfil their obligations to the licensees.

The proposal of the licensees for abnormal increase in delayed payment charges or interest which stands at 18 per annum now, is not accepted. The proposal of the licensees for increase in the period of security deposit to 75 days from 60 days is also not accepted for the same reasons for which same proposal was not accepted in the tariff order for FY 2016-17.
The period of season for the purposes of seasonal industries has been reduced from four months to three months which reduces the tariffs of the seasonal industries considerably.

In Category V (C) Rural Horticulture Nurseries, their capacity is increased to 25 HP from 15 HP so that they get the benefit of lower tariff up to 25 HP capacity. Goshalas which are in industrial category till now are now included in religious places to which categorisation they rightfully belong by their very nature, reducing their tariff liability.

For all Lift Irrigation Schemes under LT, free supply of power up to 1,200 units per annum per HP is directed to be given on par with identically placed other agriculturists in getting free supply of power. All agriculturists otherwise entitled to free supply of power but for their connections being in urban area are directed to be provided supply of free power up to 1,200 units per HP per annum on par with the other agriculturists identically placed.

As far as railways are concerned, to avoid huge loss to the Discoms, if railways were to go for Open Access, the Commission played a proactive role and the agreement between the licensees and the railways resulted in fixation of energy charges at Rs 3.55 per unit and fixed charges at Rs 300 per month per kVA, the energy charges being added Rs 0.05 per unit by the Commission beyond the agreed price by persuading the railways to accept the same.