Middle class has to bear the brunt


By T. Ramakrishnan (The Hindu)

CHENNAI, NOV. 29. It is the middle class that has been hit hard by the latest power tariff revision.

The increase for this class ranges from 25 to 60 per cent. This is unprecedented as, in the previous instances the hike for domestic consumers was done in small dosages. And industry bore the brunt.

Now, with industrial recession affecting the economy, the Government felt that it should not add to the woes of industry. ``So, we have only effected marginal increases for them'', says an official in the Finance Department.

The State has 1.4 crore power consumers, of whom 90 lakhs belong to the domestic category. ``Though the hike is high, its impact on three-fourths of the domestic consumers will be minimal'', according to an officer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

Conceding that the hike this time is severe on the domestic consumers, the official says that still the subsidy element is available to this segment and ``because of the hike, the revenue loss for the EB will go down from Rs. 1,400 crores to Rs. 1,000 crores''.

According to the EB's latest administration report, around 15 per cent of its revenue comes from the domestic consumers. The TNEB revenue during 1999-2000 was Rs. 6,575 crores, of which the domestic category contributed nearly Rs. 1,000 crores. Though the details of break-up for collection from `poor' domestic consumers (those consuming upto 100 units in two months) and the rest are not available, it goes without saying a bulk of the contribution came from the middle class, which consumes not less than 100 units bimonthly.

One of the main factors for the whopping losses of the power utility is the free power supply scheme, extended to agriculturists and huts. There are about 30 lakh connections, which get free supply and the loss comes to around Rs. 3,200 crores. The Government gives Rs. 500 crores to the TNEB for offsetting the loss.

In its order last evening, the Government said the TNEB's total revenue deficit for this year would be about Rs. 2,750 crores. The ``huge gap'' in revenue is due to the inflation in the cost of various inputs which go into power generation and also due to an increase in purchase of power from Central generating stations and private producers. From industry, it is the turn of the middle class to bear largely the cost of the free power scheme.



Middle class has to bear the brunt


By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI, NOV. 29. It is the middle class that has been hit hard by the latest power tariff revision.

The increase for this class ranges from 25 to 60 per cent. This is unprecedented as, in the previous instances the hike for domestic consumers was done in small dosages. And industry bore the brunt.

Now, with industrial recession affecting the economy, the Government felt that it should not add to the woes of industry. ``So, we have only effected marginal increases for them'', says an official in the Finance Department.

The State has 1.4 crore power consumers, of whom 90 lakhs belong to the domestic category. ``Though the hike is high, its impact on three-fourths of the domestic consumers will be minimal'', according to an officer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

Conceding that the hike this time is severe on the domestic consumers, the official says that still the subsidy element is available to this segment and ``because of the hike, the revenue loss for the EB will go down from Rs. 1,400 crores to Rs. 1,000 crores''.

According to the EB's latest administration report, around 15 per cent of its revenue comes from the domestic consumers. The TNEB revenue during 1999-2000 was Rs. 6,575 crores, of which the domestic category contributed nearly Rs. 1,000 crores. Though the details of break-up for collection from `poor' domestic consumers (those consuming upto 100 units in two months) and the rest are not available, it goes without saying a bulk of the contribution came from the middle class, which consumes not less than 100 units bimonthly.

One of the main factors for the whopping losses of the power utility is the free power supply scheme, extended to agriculturists and huts. There are about 30 lakh connections, which get free supply and the loss comes to around Rs. 3,200 crores. The Government gives Rs. 500 crores to the TNEB for offsetting the loss.

In its order last evening, the Government said the TNEB's total revenue deficit for this year would be about Rs. 2,750 crores. The ``huge gap'' in revenue is due to the inflation in the cost of various inputs which go into power generation and also due to an increase in purchase of power from Central generating stations and private producers. From industry, it is the turn of the middle class to bear largely the cost of the free power scheme.






Middle class has to bear the brunt


By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI, NOV. 29. It is the middle class that has been hit hard by the latest power tariff revision.

The increase for this class ranges from 25 to 60 per cent. This is unprecedented as, in the previous instances the hike for domestic consumers was done in small dosages. And industry bore the brunt.

Now, with industrial recession affecting the economy, the Government felt that it should not add to the woes of industry. ``So, we have only effected marginal increases for them'', says an official in the Finance Department.

The State has 1.4 crore power consumers, of whom 90 lakhs belong to the domestic category. ``Though the hike is high, its impact on three-fourths of the domestic consumers will be minimal'', according to an officer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

Conceding that the hike this time is severe on the domestic consumers, the official says that still the subsidy element is available to this segment and ``because of the hike, the revenue loss for the EB will go down from Rs. 1,400 crores to Rs. 1,000 crores''.

According to the EB's latest administration report, around 15 per cent of its revenue comes from the domestic consumers. The TNEB revenue during 1999-2000 was Rs. 6,575 crores, of which the domestic category contributed nearly Rs. 1,000 crores. Though the details of break-up for collection from `poor' domestic consumers (those consuming upto 100 units in two months) and the rest are not available, it goes without saying a bulk of the contribution came from the middle class, which consumes not less than 100 units bimonthly.

One of the main factors for the whopping losses of the power utility is the free power supply scheme, extended to agriculturists and huts. There are about 30 lakh connections, which get free supply and the loss comes to around Rs. 3,200 crores. The Government gives Rs. 500 crores to the TNEB for offsetting the loss.

In its order last evening, the Government said the TNEB's total revenue deficit for this year would be about Rs. 2,750 crores. The ``huge gap'' in revenue is due to the inflation in the cost of various inputs which go into power generation and also due to an increase in purchase of power from Central generating stations and private producers. From industry, it is the turn of the middle class to bear largely the cost of the free power scheme.