Despite the average electricity tariff for agriculture in Odisha being below the national average of 183.06 paise/Kwh, the energy consumption for irrigation in State is around 210 million units (MU) only.
In the immediate neighbourhood, only Jharkhand shows lower energy consumption in agriculture sector than Odisha. The main reason behind below par energy consumption in farm sector in Odisha is primarily due to over two-fifth of operational holdings remaining at the hands of marginal farmers, who don’t have the capacity to invest capital in going for tube well irrigation in their lands.
However, the energy consumption by the year 2019-20 would see a 50 per cent rise if one goes by the forecast of the18th Annual Electric Survey. It has predicted a gradual energy consumption growth in the agro sector with the total consumption being pegged at around 359 MU by 2019-20. In contrast, the energy consumption in domestic and commercial category to clock around 28 per cent growth and industrial sector to record mere 18 per cent growth, details the forecast.
Significantly, the national average consumption in categories like domestic, commercial and industrial the growth rate would be 40, 46 and 39 per cent respectively.
In this context, the provisional energy consumption data available with Odisha Energy Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the last three years reveal a fall in per capita energy consumption growth rate in Odisha in 2014-15. While the per capita energy consumption in the State in 2013-14 has posted a growth of over 11.6 per cent, the growth rate in 2014-15 has apparently halved and grew by around 5 per cent to touch 1,419 MU.
According to OERC review paper, slower per capita consumption is due to quantum of coverage and consumer mix. This means electricity coverage in Odisha is not moving at the desired growth rate as the 18th AES forecast suggest and this is reason the State is having surplus power this year. Moreover, the reason behind surplus power in State also partly alludes to generation over and above that of the energy programme for the year. Data shows against the energy programme of over 37,850 MU, the actual generation in Odisha is over 42,212 MU.
With regard to affordability of power in Odisha, the average tariff for domestic consumers being around 440 paise/kwh with effect from April 1, 2015 is higher than the national average of around 410 paise/kwh. Similarly, in the category of industrial the rate is higher than the national average and below that of national average for the commercial users. Regarding tariff for farm sector, State’s average tariff is much higher than its neighbouring States except Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. This shows almost all consumers in Odisha pay higher tariff than their major counterparts nationally.
(The writer is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist)