Power shock! Get ready to pay more for electricity

PROPOSED POWER TARIFF UP BY 15 TO 20 PER CENT
BSEB ANNUAL LOSS AT RS. 1,417.23 

June 1, 2011, Patna: The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) has approved the proposed hike in power tariff in the state.

The commission has reportedly approved to hike the power tariff by 15 to 20 per cent in the state.

Contrary to the BSEB proposal for massive hike of power tariff, the BERC has approved a small increase which will be effective from this month itself, they said. The BSEB had submitted its proposals for a revised tariff to the BERC last February. 

According to sources, the BSEB incurs a loss of Rs.1,417.23 crore annually. Of the Rs.10,000 crore it has to recover from consumers, an amount of Rs.7,000 crore is owed by government departments.

With the mercury soaring and scarcity of drinking water reported from across the state, outages in electricity supply have added to people's difficulties. In the last one month alone, people in over a dozen towns in Bihar have held angry demonstrations against power woes.

While Bihar has a daily requirement of 2,200-2,500 MW, it generates hardly 45-50 MW of power. The central government supplies around 850 to 1050 MW and the state is facing a power deficit of about 1,000-1,200 MW a day.