Ahead of polls, Karnataka govt plans to cut power tariffs

Rates may be reduced by 70 paise to Rs 2 a unit

Electricity bills are likely to reduce as the Karnataka government is planning a downward revision of power tariffs, a move that has the upcoming Assembly polls written all over it.

"We want tariffs to reduce across all categories of consumers -- domestic, commercial and industrial -- and directions have been issued on these lines," Energy Minister V Sunil Kumar told DH, adding that the modalities are being worked out.

The government has asked electricity supply companies (Escoms) to make sure consumers are "not burdened" during the tariff revision that is soon due.

According to sources, the government has asked Escoms to reduce energy charges for every unit of power. This could result in tariffs reducing in the range of 70 paise to Rs 2 per unit.

"All Escoms will send their tariff revisions to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), which will decide. We are confident that the KERC will approve of our plan to bring down tariffs," Kumar said. "This is a two-month process. By New Year, proposals will be sent."

The downward revision would result in losses to Escoms, Kumar admitted. "But, we have some plan to offset the losses. After reducing tariffs, we expect the consumption to go up. So, that's one way of making good the losses. Also, there are six slabs at present -- 0-25 units, 26-50 units, 51-75 units and so on. We will reduce this to three slabs whose pricing will be calculated strategically," he said.

The government is also planning to tweak the time-of-day tariff for high tension (HT) users. Those consuming 11 hours of power a day could see their per-unit cost reduce, sources said.

By reducing tariffs, the BJP government wants to provide some relief to consumers who have seen three hikes this year.