Taking a leaf out of the Aam Aadmi Party’s book, the Congress-National Congress Party Government in Maharashtra has decided to reduce tariffs for all the consumers of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (Mahadiscom) by 20 per cent.
However, there is a rider for domestic consumers, as the subsidy for this category is capped at 300 units per month. For agriculture, commercial and industrial consumers, there is no limit.
Mahadiscom has 2.14 crore consumers, of which 1.56 crore fall in the domestic category. Of these, 1.30 crore consume less than 300 units per month.
Consumers in Mumbai will not get any relief as they have to purchase their power from companies such as Tata Power, Reliance Energy and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport.
A senior official from the Maharashtra Government told Business Line that the State Cabinet had three alternatives and zeroed in on the 20 per cent option due to the lower financial burden of Rs 706 crore a month.
However, the State Government is already facing a financial crunch.
The Finance Department will soon have to resort to open market borrowing of Rs 1,000 crore, the official said.
Subsidy A press statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office said the State Government will give a subsidy of Rs 606 crore to Mahadiscom.
rahul.wadke@thehindu.co.in