Reliance Power wants to hike electricty tariffs by 10-45 percent in Mumbai

Reliance Energy, the power distribution arm of Reliance Infrastructure Limited, has proposed a hike of 10 to 45 percent in power tariffs. [caption id=“attachment_2108319” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The company wants to raise the rates for those using up to 100 units of power per month from Rs 4.67 to Rs 5.14, according to Hindustan Times. The report further said that for a majority of consumers, who use between 100 and 300 units of power per month, the company proposed a 16 percent hike from Rs 6.67 to Rs 7.73. Consumers using between 300 and 500 units of power per month might have to pay Rs 11.27 instead of the current Rs 7.75, which is a 45 percent hike. The company has submitted its petition with the proposals to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). RInfra has also proposed a 66 percent increase in the power tariff for below poverty line (BPL) consumers, increasing the variable cost for BPL users from Rs 1.99 per unit to Rs 3.3 per unit, reported Indian Express. The report added that the company proposed the hike to recover the cumulative revenue gap of Rs 1,582 crores since 2012-13. “The company realises that there will be a significant increase in retail tariffs for fiscal 2015-16. However, the increase lasts only for a period of one year and thereafter retail tariffs would not only drop, but also show a nominal changes due to year-on-year cost variations,” Indian Express quoted the company as saying. Reliance Energy has an overall user base of 29.12 lakh consumers. This move comes after the Maharashtra government was developing a blueprint to rationalise power tariff for industrial consumers. Currently, out of the over 2.20 crore consumers of the state utility Mahavitaran, 1.99 per cent or about 4.38 lakh are industrial customers with consumption of 31,352.44 million units. “Currently, the tariffs for industrial consumers are significantly high. If we have to attract industries to the state, we will have to develop a mechanism to rationalise these tariffs,” Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had said. (With inputs from PTI)