Chandigarh: Contrary to the false opposition charges and the deceptive statements carried by a section of the media, the power tariff in Punjab continues to be the lowest in the northern region, except for Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said here on Tuesday. While lambasting the opposition for misleading the people with their false statements on this count, the Chief Minister also flayed the media for carrying unsubstantiated charges without checking the facts. The facts clearly show that, barring Himachal Pradesh, Punjab remains at the lowest rung in terms of power tariff across categories in the northern part of the country, despite the marginal hike announced yesterday by PSERC, he added.
Official data showing the power tariff across various categories in all the northern states categorically disproves the opposition charges, said the Chief Minister, adding that the blatantly false statements by these leaders were totally contrary to the facts and were obviously politically motivated.
Instead of providing constructive opposition in the interest of the state and its people, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had been pursuing a negative agenda to undermine the development work being done by the Congress government in order to mislead the people, said Captain Amarinder.
Such fraudulent statements and political gimmickry will only alienate the people further from these parties, which had been already been electorally rejected, first during the state assembly polls and more recently in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-poll, the Chief Minister said.
An official spokesperson from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), citing data, pointed out that in the Domestic category, Punjab’s power rate, after revision, stood at Rs. 6.03 per unit, against Rs. 6.42 in Haryana, Rs. 7.65 in Delhi, Rs. 6.98 in Rajasthan and Rs. 6.31 in Uttar Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh was the only state in the region providing domestic power at a lower rate of Rs. 4.70 per unit. In fact, the rate was much higher even in other major states of the country, including Maharashtra (Rs. 9.91 per unit) and Madhya Pradesh (Rs. 6.63/unit) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 6.94/unit).
Similarly, the NDS or Commercial power rate in Punjab now stands at Rs. 7.34/unit, as compared to neighbouring Haryana (Rs. 8.76/unit), Delhi (Rs. 12.21/unit), Rajasthan (Rs. 8.94/unit) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs. 11.37/unit), while Himachal Pradesh provides commercial power at Rs. 6.75/unit). The rate in this category for Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh is, respectively, Rs. 12.60/unit, Rs. 8.84/unit and Rs. 10.21/unit).
In the Industrial category, the subsidized rate in SP has been capped by the Punjab government at Rs. 4.99/unit, with the rate in MS and LS industries also being subsidized and frozen at Rs. 5/unit, as already announced by the Chief Minister. In Haryana, the rates for SP, MP and LS industry types are Rs. 6.87, Rs. 8.50 and Rs. 8.14 per unit. The respective per unit rates for Delhi are Rs. 10.95, Rs. 12.39 and Rs. 10.09.
Rajasthan is providing power to these three industry types at Rs. 7.25, Rs. 8.67 and Rs. 8.78 per unit, while the rates in U.P stand at Rs. 10.17, Rs. 9.83 and Rs. 7.95 per unit. The rates in Himachal Pradesh – at Rs. 5.71, Rs. 6.31, Rs 6.79 per unit respectively, are also higher than the subsidized rates announced by the Captain Amarinder government in Punjab, the spokesperson pointed out.
Further, the government has also raised the night rebate for industry from Rs 1 to Rs. 1.25 to further incentivise power saving through reduced consumption at night-time, he added.
The comparative rates, as provided above, factor in the Punjab conversion factor, as approved by the Commission, to convert the kVAh tariff in all the states to kWh tariff. Also, the 2-part tariff in various states has been converted into single-part tariff by taking the Punjab Utilization Factor into account.