Revised power tariff rate yet to be fixed in Manipur

IMPHAL, April 7: Even though the State Cabinet has agreed to hike power tariff on April 5, no specific decision has been taken regarding the rate of increase till now and the Government has not issued any order in this connection. Highly placed sources said the rate of increase is likely to be from the Rs 2.03 charged per unit by the Electricity Department to Rs 2.80 per unit. However, the Government has not issued any notification on the exact rate of increase. The rate of Rs 2.03 per unit was earlier fixed by the department for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other sectors at an average, it added. On the recent move of the Government to raise power tariff, Chief Engineer (Power) AK Shyamkishore Singh told The Sangai Express that unit-wise, the State needs around 400 million units of power per year. Currently, the state is spending around Rs 69 crore for buying power for one year from power corporations and other states. However, the Power Sector needs around Rs 96 crore taking into consideration the expenditure on line fitting, maintenance, employees' salary and the cost for the power loss during transmission, he said. The CE said the Power Department is not a profit making body and as it cannot also incur losses, the deficit has to be covered from consumers. Moreover, the cost of the power lost due to power theft also affects the taxpayers. The current rate of Rs 2.03 per unit was enforced from March last year. It was Rs 1.63 per unit till 1998 and it was just 83 paise per unit earlier. It may be recalled that a case is still pending in the Gauhati High Court in connection with the hike from Re 1.63 to Rs 2.03 per unit.