PSEB mulls over 10 pc hike in tariff
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 19
Already facing tyrannical and prolonged power cuts, Punjab residents should remain fully prepared to see their household budget getting upset in near future by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), which is mulling a huge and straight 10 to 15 per cent hike in power tariff of its consumers to cover its Rs 10,000 crore deficit.

In its Annual Revenue Report (ARR) for the year 2008-09, which has been submitted to the Punjab State Power Regulatory Commission, the board has shown its accumulative losses, including the ones borne on account of transmission loss, to be around Rs. 10,000 crore.

In its plea to the commission, the PSEB has urged commission to grant a permission to it to enhance power tarrif of consumers by a whopping 10 to 15 per cent. The ARR, sources revealed, had been submitted to the commission during last month.

As its first step towards implementation of its hike plans, the board has already enhanced the load extension rates for tube well motors across the state from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,800 per horsepower. The farmers, led by the BKU-Ekta, were already opposing this hike tooth and nail and had even organised a two-day dharna in Patiala this week against the hike.

If the board gets permission to increase tariff by 10 to 15 per cent, the board could rake up an amount of Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 1500 crore, which the board authorities presume would go a long way towards recovery of some of its losses.

The proposed hike, if implemented, would prove to be nothing short than a bolt from the blue for Punjab residents as they are already paying a strikingly higher price for power than residents of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.