Power tariff likely to surge

Power consumers in Telangana are likely to be burdened by the increase in tariff as the power utilities have expressed their inability to bring down the supply cost. Discoms have proposed an average increase in tariff of 42 paise per unit.

However, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) has left the decision with the government and has recommended a slight slash in the surge. Discoms feel that delay in tariff hike will result in huge revenue loss.

The government has not made any additional provision in the budget for meeting the revenue gap with additional subsidy. The overall burden on consumers of all categories, except those availing free power for farming, is likely to be at least 9 p.c. more compared to the existing and on higher side it could even go up to 20 per cent for some sections.