Citu activists protest against power hike in Guwahati on Friday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, April 26: The Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (Finer) has opposed the proposed power tariff hike in Assam that will result in more than 50 per cent increase in domestic power bills.

“A domestic consumer, who is now paying around Rs 100 per month, will have to pay Rs 156 after the proposed hike. According to our analysis, power bills of all domestic consumers will increase by more than 50 per cent if the tariff hike proposed by Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) is implemented,” Finer chairman R.S. Joshi said.

The federation has decided to oppose the hike and will submit its objections to the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) shortly. The APDCL has submitted a proposal to the AERC proposing a steep hike in power tariff for the years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The proposal comes at a time when the state is reeling under massive power shortage. The state, as of today, is short by 445MW owing to short supply of gas, inadequate water level and poor maintenance of machines and other factors.

The federation said the power company’s proposed hike would result in unit charges of Rs 7.87, Rs 7.84 and Rs 7.73 respectively for the said years — a steep increase from the approved Rs 5.65 per unit average tariff for 2012-13. “This will affect the domestic consumers, retailers, small entrepreneurs and all who use electricity in the state,” the federation stated.

A shop or small office, having a commercial connection and currently paying Rs 1,000 per month will have to pay around Rs 1,600 every month — a 60 per cent increase. Similarly, a small industrial unit in an urban area, now paying Rs 5,000 per month, will have to shell out Rs 9,000 — an 80 per cent increase. The industry body said the APDCL was trying to extract the cost of its inefficiency from the state’s consumers and such a steep increase in power prices would not only affect the budget of the common man but also hit his savings.

“An increase in power tariff will push up cost of production and consequently prices of the products leading to inflation,” the federation said.

The power company, while proposing the hike, said the power tariff regime in Assam had remained fairly stable, with marginal increase between 2005-06 and 2011-12.

“During the period, the company has been able to absorb the significant increase in its power purchase cost and other expenses by continuously improving its performance parameters, especially in reduction of distribution losses. However, the company has not been able to post profits during the period owing to increased input costs. There has been a sharp increase in the power purchase cost of the company during 2010-11 on account of rise in of prices of coal and gas the world over,” it said.

The company said it had ambitious capital expenditure plans for network upgrade and maintenance to meet the fast growing demand of its consumers.