Eleven days after coming to power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government fulfilled its big ticket election promises of slashing the power tariff by half for those consuming up to 400 units of electricity and also making water free to households using up to 20,000 litres per month. Both the schemes shall begin on Sunday.
Under the new subsidy scheme, people using up to 200 units of electricity will now have to pay only Rs2/unit instead of Rs4/unit, while those consuming between 201-400 units will have to pay around Rs3/unit in place of Rs5.95/unit. Over 36 lakh domestic consumers shall benefit from the subsidy, while the free water provision will cater to around 18 lakh people in the Capital.
The major announcements made by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday seemed like a déjà vu moment from December 2013 when the then minority AAP Government had taken the same initiative.
The move to reduce the power tariff by 50 per cent for those who consume up to 400 units is expected to benefit 90 per cent of the domestic consumers in the city which figures out to 36,06,428 households of Delhi. For March, the last month of the financial year 2014-15, the power subsidy would cost Rs70 crore to the exchequer, whereas, for the next year (2015-16) the cost is estimated at Rs1,427 crore.
Sisodia added that consumers shall continue to get the 50 per cent subsidy till the findings of the CAG audit are out. Sources in the power department indicated that the results of the audit are likely to be released by end of this year. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the same day and assured him of full cooperation in the audit by providing documents.
While announcing free water to every metred household consuming up to 20,000 litres every month, Sisodia also said consumers availing the scheme won’t have to pay for sewer charges. However, water tariff will be charged if the consumption limit exceeds 20,000 litres. The free water scheme will benefit 18 lakh households.
“From March 1 to March 31, the free water scheme will cost us Rs20 crore. To continue this even in the next financial year, we shall be making an allocation of Rs250 crore in the Budget,” said Sisodia, while maintaining that in the last quarter during the previous Government, the same had cost Rs 31 crore to the exchequer.
The scheme this time has also been extended to Group Housing Societies which will benefit parched areas like Dwarka in a big way. The move was welcomed in almost all quarters as people rejoiced and experts applauded because of the hidden agenda of energy and water conservation within these policies.
On the free power scheme, Sisodia said the Government will review the power rates after CAG completes audit of the accounts of the power discoms. In its manifesto, the AAP had promised to cut power tariff by 50 per cent immediately after coming to power.