Consumers in Uttar Pradesh may see electricity tariffs going up by a weighted average of around 8% in the next financial year. There has been no increase in electricity tariffs in the state for the past couple of years even though input costs surged.
The state’s five power distribution companies (discoms) filed their annual revenue requirement (ARR) proposal of Rs 85,500 crore for FY23 with the state electricity regulator last week.
The tariff revision is being sought on the basis of estimated cost of service for various consumer groups and the revenue gap.
According to sources, the companies have estimated a gap of Rs 6,700 crore between their revenue and expenditure, which would be bridged with with rise in tariffs.
According to the ARR proposal, the discoms have given a proposal to purchase 1.20 lakh million units of electricity at a cost of Rs 65,000 crore and have projected distribution losses at 17%.
The state government has released a subsidy of Rs 11,500 crore to the discoms in the current financial year.
According to latest data accessed by FE, UPPCL, the umbrella body of the five discoms with a consumer base of 30.6 million, has accumulated losses of Rs 70,454 crore. Its losses in 2020-21 were Rs 16,160 crore and its average monthly gap between power purchase cost and revenue collection last fiscal was Rs 2,419 crore.
Apart from this, UPPCL has a working capital loan of Rs 66,277 crore while the loan for capital expenditure is to the tune of Rs 11,105 crore.
It may be mentioned that as per the Electricity Act 2003, ARRs must be filed by November 30, but since assembly elections were due in state, UPPCL and the state owned discoms deferred the filing till after the election process was complete.
According to sources in UPPCL, the filing of the ARR is being done before the end of the fiscal, as a further delay will have an adverse effect on its ratings.
