PPBM expresses concern over PSPCL move to increase power tariff by 8 per cent 

Ludhiana: Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) has expressed its concern over a move of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to increase power tariff by 8 per cent in the next fiscal.

Addressing a press conference here today, the PPBM state general secretary Sunil Mehra, state secretary Mohinder Aggarwal, chairman Pawan Lehar and district president Arwinder Singh Makkar added that according to annual revenue requirement (ARR) petition filed before the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), the PSPCL has sought almost over 8 per cent power tariff hike for the next fiscal.

They told that the PSPCL had sought an increase of 53 paisa per unit. It means that the power, which now costs around Rs 6.51 per unit, will then cost Rs 7.04 per unit. They pointed out that in the last financial year, the PSPCL had sought a hike by around 12 to 14.10 per cent in the existing rates but the PSERC allowed an average tariff hike of 2.14 per cent across categories for 2019-20.

Further, they said it was a matter of regret that Punjab was aheading towards the states where power tariff was much higher compared to other states in the country. He said the recent proposal of hike in the power tariff, if implemented, would adversely hit common man, adding that the power tariff was already much higher in Punjab compared to many other states. 

They reminded the state government that it had promised to provide power at a rate of Rs.5 per unit to traders but this promise had not been fulfilled so far. Rather, the power tariff was being increased on yearly basis, they said, adding that the present state government was in a move to increase the power tariff for the seventh time. They ridiculed perhaps the state government wanted to give new year’s gift to people of Punjab by increasing the power tariff.

The PPBM leaders told that on one hand the state government was providing power supply free of cost to farmers and on the other hand it was bent upon to destroy industrial houses by providing them power at higher rates. They said the Punjab farmers were being supplied free power worth about Rs.9,000 crores, adding that the state government should provide free power to those farmers who were holding agricultural lands up to ten acres. The farmers having agricultural lands more than 10 acres should not been given power free of cost.

They said nearly 30,000 industries had been shifted to other states due to the faulty policies of the Amarinder Government in the state. They revealed that they would be discussing this issue in the next meeting of the PPBM to be held on January 10, 2021 to chalk out a future strategy in this regard. They warned that traders would be constrained to come on the roads to lodge their protest if the state government did not roll back its move to bring hike in power tariff.