Jamshedpur, April 8: The Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) has decided to hike power tariff to offset its losses.

The state electricity board prepared a revised tariff after two days of meeting at its headquarters in Ranchi.

The proposed tariff would be sent to the Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC) for approval.

JSEB’s power tariff is the lowest in the country, officials of the electricity board said. This is causing the power board losses and the hike is needed to compensate.

On the need for the hike, senior official of JSEB and member (distribution) S.N. Choudhary said: “The board is losing about Rs 500 crore annually due to the low tariff. Because of this we have decided to hike the tariff. We buy power from various agencies at a higher rate. But due to the low tariff we are forced to sell power to the consumers at a lower rate.”

On an average, Choudhary said, the electricity board purchases power at Rs 3.30 per unit but sells a unit for Rs 1.70, resulting in the loss.

The power tariff of the electricity board has not been revised since August 2004.

Last year an effort was made to hike the tariff but instead of increasing the cost, the state electricity regulat- ory commission lowered the rate. JSEB did not implement the tariff and had approached the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission seeking justice.

The latest revised tariff has been made for all categories — domestic, commercial and industrial consumers.

“The new tariff structure has been formulated in such a way so as to offset the loss that we are incurring at present. The proposed tariff would be sent to JSERC on April 10. We are optimistic of a positive response from the state electricity regulatory commission,” said Choudhary.

Approval for such proposal is usually granted within three months, he added.

JSEB officials informed that the new tariff was prepared after studying those at Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

“The hike is necessary as it would help the JSEB increase its revenue and provide better services to its consumers,” said a senior JSEB official.

During the meeting at the JSEB headquarter, a final seal was given to the proposed hike in power tariff.

The board members were unanimous in their decision regarding the hike.

At the meeting that took place on Sunday, several other issues were also taken up for discussion.

The board came out with a report card containing the activities and achievements of the power board during the last fiscal. Moreover, the board members also discussed ways to cope with the existing power crisis.