Ten per cent power hike likely for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana residents

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has asked both state governments to submit a fresh proposal clarifying their commitment to supplying free power to the agricultural sector.

The state governments are yet to submit their proposals. Meanwhile, calculations for revised power tariff is showing a hike of up to 10 per cent. The proposals are likely to be submitted soon.

The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has hinted that continuation of the free power subsidy to consumers would have to be reconfirmed by both the states through budgetary outlays. The commission had earlier said, “The Discom filing contains zero tariff proposals for certain categories of consumers. This zero tariff was proposed as per the then policy of united Andhra Pradesh, which anticipated payment of subsidy to meet the deficit. This significant policy involving substantial budgetary support needs to be re-confirmed by the newly formed governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.”

However, the revised proposals with the required reconfirmation have not been submitted so far.

The proposals made by the Discoms before the bifurcation were rejected by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission saying that the proposal was no longer valid due to bifurcation changing the composition of the Discoms. The new proposals which are ready are likely to propose a higher tariff now.

“With new tariffs and charges coming into play due to many transmission lines becoming inter-state lines, projections of additional purchases by both the states as well as commitment to supply free power is likely to take the proposal up by at least 10 per cent,” highly placed sources said.