Dikshit to continue Re 1 power subsidy

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday announced continuation of the government's Re 1 subsidy per unit up to a monthly consumption of 200 units, which now stands at Rs 3.997 per unit following Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission's (DERC) tariff hike last week.

The DERC announced a hike of 26 per cent in power tariff for domestic consumers with effect from July 1 — the fourth increase in 10 months.

Dikshit justified the power tariff hike, saying it was still lower than other cities. The only exception, she said, was the minimum tariff slab of Rs 3.70 per unit for consumption of 200 units per month.

"The minimum in Gurgaon is Rs 3.8. In Kolkata, it is Rs 3.92, it is Rs 4.86 in Mumbai and Rs 4.60 (101-200 units) in Bangalore. In Haryana, it is Rs 4.50 and Rs 4.88 (101-300 units) per unit in Punjab," she said.

Maintaining that the government had little to do with the regulator's decision, she said: "Whoever is conserving power and consuming just 200 units per month, we are doing our best to help them with the subsidy. The DERC has hiked the tariff. We have nothing to do with it. There is no alternative but to increase the rate, as cost of power purchase has gone up significantly."

Dikshit said her government would release Rs 222.4 crore as subsidy, which would cover 59 per cent of the city's total domestic consumer base.

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