Bhopal: Imported coal to make electricity dear

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Amidst price rise in most of the commodities now, the electricity department is all set to shock its customers by increasing the ‘fuel cost’ and making it dearer by almost Re 1 per unit, said an official.

“The coal shortage issue has forced the government to import coal from other countries. This will lay an additional burden on the power generation companies which will be passed on to the consumers ultimately,” said an official from the energy department.

The MP State Electricity Regulatory Commission had approved the revised tariff for the year 2022-23 with effect from April 8. According to the revised tariff rates of electricity were increased by 2.64%. Power companies had pleaded to raise the tariff by 8.71% which was brought down by the regulatory commission to 2.64%.

Electricity tariffs were increased by 3.7% in the previous year.

Fuel cost, charged by power companies from their consumers, could be raised without going in for tariff revision plea. It happens only when the logistics input increases.

Sources in the power companies say that additional fuel cost could go up 75 Paisa to one rupee.

At present the electricity tariff in different slabs is as follows:

Up to 50 units– Rs 4.21

51-150 units- Rs 5.17

151-300 units- Rs 6.74

Above 300 units- Rs 6.74