Avg Cost of Per Unit Electricity Highest in Delhi: Ajay Maken

Earlier, Congress' Delhi unit had said that the national capital has the highest electricity prices in the country.

Former Union Minister and Congress' General Secretary Ajay Maken.

(Photo: IANS)

Former Union Minister and Congress' General Secretary Ajay Maken has stated that the average cost of each unit of electricity is the highest for consumers living in Delhi.

Earlier on 11 July, Congress' Delhi unit had responded to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that the national capital has the highest electricity rate in the country.

The response came after Kejriwal had questioned why electricity is so expensive in Uttarakhand when the state itself generates electricity and sells it to other states.

What the Report on State Power Utilities Says

Speaking to The Quint, Maken cited Power Finance Corporation's latest annual report on 'Performance of State Power Utilities' for the year 2018-19 to claim that the average cost of per unit of electricity is the highest in Delhi at Rs 6.90 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The figure, available in the Annexure 1.1 (b) of the report, takes into account two data points namely: revenue from sale of power and other operating income including wheeling.

"Punjab is at Rs 4.66/kWh, Maharashtra at Rs 5.63/kWh and Rajasthan is at Rs 5.01/kWh. This does not include tariff subsidy, UDAY grant or other government grants. Thus, this is the actual and direct cost to the consumer for an average unit of electricity in that state," Maken added.

Mentioning the role of the actual revenue collected, he said that it plays the most important role in "tariff fixation and calculation of Aggregate of Technical and Commercial losses (AT&C)."

"It is the Annual Revenue Required (ARR), which forms the basis of any power distribution utility to submit its petition before the Regulatory Commission. It is on this basis that the tariff is fixed. Further, two most important components in the amended definition of AT&C as notified by CEA on 2 June 2017 are ‘Revenue Billed’ and ‘Revenue Collected’. Thus, tariff in a way is a facade with many hidden charges whereas per unit revenue collected is the reality which a consumer must directly shell out from his pockets."

Ajay Maken, Former Union Minister and Congress' General Secretary

Further, Maken, former cabinet Minister of Transport and Power in Government of Delhi from 2001-2003, pointed towards the 2017-18 data on average per unit tariff subsidy which was at Rs 0.56/kWh in Delhi and Rs 1.75/kWh in Punjab.

Looking at the 2018-19 data, the aforementioned figures stand at Rs 0.54/kWh in Delhi and Rs 1.82/kWh in Punjab.

Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections early next year, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on 29 June, had announced various promises for the state of Punjab, including 300 units of free electricity per month to each household, if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) comes to power.