J&K buys power at Rs 5, sells at Rs 2.30: Government
Srinagar, Oct 31: The government on Friday said that consumers in J&K were availing heavily subsidised electricity, with domestic tariffs among the lowest in the country, even as the average cost of power supply stands at around Rs 5.03 per unit.
In a written reply to a question by Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) MLA, Langate, Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, regarding free electricity, the government said, “The consumers in J&K avail heavily subsidised tariffs, especially in the domestic category. The current tariff for domestic consumers ranges from Rs 2.30 per unit (for up to 200 units per month) to Rs 4.35 per unit, which is among the lowest in the country. For the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, the tariff is even lower at Rs 1.40 per unit for consumption up to 30 units per month. In comparison, the average cost of power supply is around Rs 5.03 per unit in the case of domestic consumers.”
The government said that “revision of the power load of consumers is a routine activity of the DISCOMs (JPDCL and KPDCL)” and that “the exercise of load revision is necessitated to rationalise the sanctioned load in proportion to the load in use by each household and consumer.”
It said that “all the consumers of J&K are being billed as per the electricity tariff issued by the JERC for J&K.”
On the issue of free power supply, the government said it had announced that 200 units of free electricity would be provided to all Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, integrated with the PM Surya Ghar-Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSG: MBY).
“This is to be implemented through the RESCO and Utility-Led Aggregation (ULA) model,” the government said.
“The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has granted in-principle approval for the ULA model under PMSG: MBY. Under this scheme, Rooftop Solar (RTS) systems are proposed for 2,22,564 AAY households, with each system having a capacity of 2 kW,” it said.
The government said that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and tendering process for the installation of RTS systems were currently under preparation in the respective DISCOMs.
“Once commissioned, the RTS systems will provide up to 200 units of free electricity per month to the beneficiary households. This model ensures a sustainable and financially viable mechanism for providing electricity benefits without adversely impacting the DISCOMs’ revenue,” it said.
The government attributed the delay in implementation to “the procedural timelines involved in preparing DPRs, finalising tenders, and implementing the ULA model, which are necessary steps to ensure proper planning, execution, and long-term sustainability of the scheme.”
