Kerala hikes power tariff

The Kerala cabinet yesterday gave its nod to hike the power tariff as per the recommendations put forward by the liaison committee meeting of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) held in Kovalam on Monday.

In doing so it has ignored threats by opposition parties that any move to hike the tariff would be met with strong agitational steps.

Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony said here yesterday that there would also be half an hour of power cuts in the five major towns of the state which come under city corporations. This would make the half-hour load shedding a state-wide affair.

The power cuts will come into effect from tomorrow, while the hike in tariff will be effective from October 1. As per the proposal, tariffs for domestic consumers will increase by 25 paise per unit at the lowest slab, to Rs1 per unit at the top slab.

Industrial consumers have been given softer treatment, charging them an additional 50 paise per unit, and agricultural users have been exempted from the hike.

Antony said the tariff hikes would additionally net only Rs350 million per month, and that this was a pittance compared to the monthly loss of Rs1.84 billion incurred by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). Several additional measures have been proposed to effect more savings for the KSEB.

The short term measures include changing of all faulty electricity meters by March 31, stopping power theft and forming special squads to make power theft stoppage effective.

The state government is also planning to encourage setting up of a slew of hydel projects to make up the deficiency in power availability in the state.

Antony said 60 small hydel power projects were planned to be set up in the next three years, and that there would be tenders issued soon for these projects.

All major political parties in the state have threatened agitations against any move to hike tariff.