GUWAHATI, June 23 � Next month the common power consumers of the State are getting their power bills with enhanced tariff of 25 paisa against per unit of power consumed by them, over the existing power charges. However, for the consumers belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, the enhanced tariff would be calculated at the rate of 15 paisa per unit, Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) sources here said.
The Board and its successor company � Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) � are expecting that this enhanced tariff would be able to bring an amount of Rs 90 crore annually to their coffer. The enhanced tariff will be charged with effect from May 24 last.
The APDCL has at present 19 lakh consumers and of them 3.5 lakh belong to the BPL families. The number of BPL consumers is expected to rise up to 10 lakh with the full implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Gramya Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), said the sources.
The APDCL has around 13 lakh domestic consumers and it has around 1.5 lakh industrial consumers, including the tea estates.
The ASEB earns around Rs 1,600 crore as revenue annually and this year, it is expected to earn around Rs 75 crore as additional revenue, sources said.
In a year, the Board and its successor companies spend between Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 1,300 crore on power purchase and around Rs 500 crore on salaries, etc., of their employees.
Last year, the Board and its successor companies incurred a deficit of around Rs 350 crore. The major part of this deficit occurred due to the rise in fuel prices. The Board and its successor companies have planned to recover around Rs 21 crore per month at the rate of 68 paisa per unit from their consumers to meet the situation arising out of the hike in natural gas prices.
The matter is being discussed in the next board meeting of the APDCL scheduled for the first half of the next month.
Earlier in the month of January last, the State Government had asked the APDCL not to effect its board decision and it extended an amount of around Rs 225 crore as assistance to cover the gap occurring due to the hiked fuel prices, for a period between July last year and April this year.
This time the exercise has been initiated by the APDCL to recover the amount.
