Agartala : Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) has hiked power tariff by an average of 5 to 7 per cent, an official said on Sunday.
The power tariff hike will come into force from October 1, the official said. The TSCEL once a profit-making government entity has incurred a total loss of Rs 280 crore during 2021-22 FY and a loss of Rs 80 crore in the first three months of the current financial year. The last time, TSECL revised the power tariff was in 2014. At present, the northeastern state has around 10 lakh consumers.
“After taking into consideration all factors and consultation with Tripura Electricity Regulatory Commission (TERC), an average 5-7 per cent power tariff has been increased to save the power corporation”, TSECL’s managing director, Debasish Sarkar told PTI. The main reason behind the hike was due to the rise in the cost of gas – around 196 per cent over the past few years, he said, adding around 98 per cent of power plants in Tripura are gas-based combined cycle.
“Earlier, TSECL used to spend Rs 15 crore for procuring for gas per month for running gas-based power generation units but now it has risen to Rs 35-40 crore per month. There is no way rather than going for a power tariff hike”, he said. Sarkar said the Centre has introduced a uniform transmission tariff for the entire country which brings more woes to the small states like Tripura. “Now we are paying Rs 5.6 to Rs 6 crore annually for introducing the uniform transmission tariff. It also adds more burden on TSECL. That’s why we wanted a hike in power tariff but this hike will address our 20-25 per cent revenue deficit only”, he said.
“The TSECL will seek financial support by way of subsidy to reduce the loss. Besides, we will also go for enhancing efficiency in rendering service to the consumers”, Sarkar added.
