NO RAISE IN POWER TARIFF IN TAMILNADU.
M.Karunanidhi Chief Minister of Tamilnadu told the assembly while
answering a debate on Thursday that there would neither be any increase in
power tariff for consumers nor the withdrawal of free power supply scheme nor
withdrawal of grants to the Energy Department. Earlier, Law Minister Durai
Murugan, who moved the demands on behalf of ailing Electricity Minister Arcot
N.Veeraswami, said the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board had recently submitted a
tariff revision petition before the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory
Commission.“The current tariff proposal is a small step forward in the
direction of correcting the tariff imbalances, affecting the [Tamil Nadu
Electricity] Board and making it at least partially financially viable. While
submitting the tariff revision petition, utmost care has been taken to spare
agriculture and other needy and weaker sections of society from increase in
tariff,” the Minister stated.
No tariff hike was proposed for low tension domestic consumers who
consumed up to 200 units bi-monthly, hut dwellers, places of worship and power
loom weavers. Among high-tension consumers those who had taken power connection
for lift irrigation were spared, he said.
The Electricity Act of 2003 provides the scope, under Section 65, for
the State government to grant subsidy to any consumer or class of consumers in
the tariff determined by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
When the government decides to provide subsidy, it has to compensate in
advance the power utility concerned in the manner as the State Commission may
direct.
