Bhubaneswar: Odisha Energy Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra wrote Friday a letter to Minister of State (Power, New & Renewable Energy) in the Union government, Raj Kumar Singh seeking a reduction in inter-state transmission tariff. The tariff is charged on an annual basis by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). Odisha paid Rs 179 crore for inter-state transmission of power in the 2011-12 fiscal. It went up to Rs 734 crore in FY 2019-20. Mishra wrote in the letter that the exorbitant rise in the tariff is causing a huge problem for the consumers.
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Mishra further stated that the unutilised infrastructural expenses incurred by PGCIL should not be put on consumers in Odisha. Such expenses should be compensated from available government funds like the Power System Development Fund (PSDF).
The inter-state power transmission tariff should be decided as per rules envisaged in Electricity Act, 2003 of the Union government confirming to its tariff policy. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) should accordingly fix revised tariff as per the provisions laid down in Section 107 of the Act, Mishra stated.
Notably, power is transmitted through PGCIL’s networks. Government sources informed that the tariff per unit during FY 2011-12 was 24 paise only. However, in the 2019-20 fiscal the tariff was close to one rupee per unit of transmission.
PNN