K Chandrasekhar Rao refuses to endorse discoms' power tariff hike

HYDERABAD: In a major relief to 1.32 crore power consumers in Telangana, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has refused to endorse a 15-20 per cent hike in the power tariff as proposed by the discoms. According to sources, the CM made it clear to them that if at all, the hike cannot cross more than 4 per cent of the existing tariff.

This has come as a shock to the two discoms which were banking on raising an additional revenue of Rs 2,000 crore by effecting a tariff hike ranging from 15 to 20 per cent for the year 2017-18.

"The chief minister is not willing for a hike. He rejected our proposals of a high tariff hike and asked us to come with a proposal where the hike should be around 3 to 4 per cent.This means, we will get nothing from the hike," said a senior official in Telangana Transco.

KCR's decision sent shock waves in the energy



department which expected to generate huge revenue through the tariff revision. Till date, the discoms have deferred submission of tariff proposals thrice as the chief minister was reluctant to hike tariffs. After the third postponement, the discoms have now decided to pare down the tariff hike rates and present it before February 8.

Citing increased power purchases and cost of power, the discoms have sought `22,044.56 crore revenue to supply 32,844 million units of power in the annual revenue requirement document submitted to the Telangana state electricity regulatory commission.

Top sources disclosed that those consumers who are in the below 100 units consumption category will be left untouched. So would be those in the cottage, handloom, fisheries and agro-processing units.Industrial consumers will see a nominal increase in the tariff, said the sources.