Chairperson of the Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC), Arbind Prasad, has said that Tata Steel power tariff can be hiked from April 1, 2020.
He was chairing a public hearing at Tube Maker’s Club on the power tariff hike petition filed by Tata Steel for its distribution area (Jamshedpur town) to meet its annual revenue requirement (ARR) for the fiscal 2019-20.
“We think that there is no point in raising the power rate at the moment as only few months are left for the new financial year. I would ask the Tata Steel to raise the hike from April 1, 2020,” the chairperson said.
Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Limited (formerly Jusco) power division general manager, VP Singh had requested the commission that it was necessary to raise the hike this fiscal itself as otherwise it would lead to further increase in revenue gap.
Significantly, Tata Steel having nearly 50,000 consumers and supplying electricity in its command areas (employees) and also nearby urban slums had proposed for a 2 per cent hike in domestic and commercial tariff.
The commission chairperson, Arbind Prasad after hearing the views of consumers both in favour and against the tariff hike said that quality of power supply by Tata Steel is very good and even the power tariff is not much. However, it should focus on strengthening supply and distribution so that there is no power waste and reduce revenue gap.
The commission chairperson was however surprised at the mismatch in the figures filed in the power tariff petition of the Tata Steel in which it showed that it charged Rs 600 crore in the last five years from Tata Power (supplying power to Tata Steel) while it paid Rs 300-crore only to state government and asked Tata Steel to submit a fresh list removing the anomaly.