The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has filed proposals for revising the electricity tariffs for the financial years from 2023-24 to 2026-27 and the hike proposed for 2023-24 is 40.64 paise per unit.
The proposals were handed over to the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission this month. The commission will hold public hearings before taking a final decision. The summary of the proposals is as follows: In 2023-24, the KSEB hopes to raise an additional revenue of ₹1,044.43 crore through a 40.64 paise-per-unit hike. For 2024-25, it has proposed an increase of 31 paise per unit eyeing a revenue of ₹8,34.77 crore. For 2025-26, the hike proposed is 16.77 paise (additional revenue ₹472.64 crore), and for 2026-27, one paisa per unit (₹29.80 crore).
No tariff revision for BPL
The term of the present electricity tariffs, which came into effect on June 26 last year, expires on March 31, 2023. For the 2023-24 fiscal, the KSEB proposal for the domestic category of consumers has the following highlights: No change in tariff or conditions has been suggested for non-paying group. Similarly, no tariff revision is proposed for BPL consumers for monthly consumption up to 40 units and connected load upto 1000 watts. A 15 paise increase is proposed for consumers in the slab 0-50 units and ₹5 per month in fixed charge. For a monthly consumption of 50 units, ₹12.50 is the additional burden and 25.66 lakh consumers fall under this group, the KSEB said, calling the proposal ‘‘reasonable’‘ and in a manner designed to avoid a tariff shock.
For 2023-24, the KSEB has recommended slab-wise hikes in the range of 15 paise to 25 paise. The slab-wise proposals for the fiscal are as follows. Telescopic rates: 0-50 units (₹3.30 per unit), 51-100 (₹3.60), 101-150 units (₹4.03), 151-200 units (₹4.61). Non-telescopic rates: 0-250 units (₹6.50), 0-300 (₹6.50), 0-350 (₹7.60), 0-400 (₹7.60), 0-500 units (₹7.60) and above 500 units (₹8.70).
In January 2022, the KSEB had filed tariff revision proposals for the fiscals till 2026-27. The commission had approved a revision for the 2022-23 financial for fetching an additional revenue of ₹1,010.94 crore. As the term of the present tariffs end on March 31, the State utility has filed fresh proposals.
