Rise in electricity rates in Chhattisgarh : Relief to the rich, burden on the poor and end of cross subsidy

Comment by Sanjay Parate

The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission has announced a huge increase in electricity rates. The increased electricity rates have been implemented from the month of July itself and the poor consumers of the state are sure to get a shock in the bill of the month of August. Through these increased rates, the BJP state government will collect an additional Rs 523.43 crore from the general public.

Although the state government is trying to portray this increase as minor, how much this so-called minor increase is going to weigh on the pockets of the poor people is evident from a cursory analysis of the government data.

At present, the total electricity consumption in Chhattisgarh is about 40264 million units, out of which domestic consumers consume about 22000 million units of electricity. The increase in rates for domestic consumers is an average of 15 paise per unit. This means that out of the total loss of Rs 523.43 crore accepted by the Regulatory Commission, about Rs 330 crore will be recovered from domestic consumers only.

Among domestic consumers, the maximum burden has been imposed on those who, being poor, consume less electricity. Those who consume up to 100 units, which includes those with single light connections and people below the poverty line and low income groups, have been charged an additional 20 paise per unit.

while for consumption above this, only 10 paise has been imposed. Thus, among domestic consumers, only the higher income group has been given relief. This will only encourage this higher income group to spend electricity recklessly.

Similarly, only additional Rs. 193 crore is being collected from high tension (HT) consumers (industrialists). Therefore, the increase in electricity rates per unit for this category is only 10 paise. The BJP government's claim that an average burden of 25 paise per unit has been imposed on this section is completely wrong.

For the agricultural sector, the rate has been increased by 50 paise per unit. This will further increase the agricultural crisis in the state, as the production cost will increase drastically. This year, farmers are already struggling with the shortage of DAP and its black marketing and their cost of fertilizer has doubled. But it is being said that the increased rates for the agricultural sector will not burden the farmers, as the government will pay for it through subsidy. Since this payment is being made from the taxes collected from the general public, hence this is a burden imposed on the general public.

The BJP government claims that the average increase in electricity rates per unit is only 13 paise. To recover this 13 paise, if an average burden of 15 paise per unit is imposed on the general public and only 10 paise per unit on the rich, then this exposes the class character of the increase in electricity rates -- relief to the rich and burden on the poor.

It is clear from this that the concept of cross subsidy is being abolished. The corporates are against the concept of providing cheap electricity to the general public through cross subsidy, because they do not want to compromise on their profits in any way.

The BJP government in Chhattisgarh wants to completely privatise the power sector through the pre-paid smart meter project. This increase in electricity rates is a step in this direction.

The commentator is the Vice President of Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha, affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha. Contact: 94242-31650