Indore: Western region power distribution company (west discom) will offer 100 units of electricity for Rs 100 to 2.10 lakh consumers in Indore district. State government has changed Saral Bijli Yojna to Indira Grah Jyoti, which will benefit labourers below poverty line besides SC, ST communities. About 62 lakh people in the state will be benefit under this scheme. They include 20 lakh consumers of 15 districts of Malwa- Nimad region, which comes under west discom. However, if the consumption exceeds 100 units then remaining units will be charged as per next energy tariff slab, which is Rs 7 per unit.
The billing cycle is different in different areas in a zone. Therefore, west discom has taken a margin of two weeks till February 25 for collecting data of the beneficiaries. The consumers will receive scheme benefits for bills generated in March. During BJP regime, the government formed discoms to give electricity to registered labourers for fixed amount of Rs 200 under Sambal scheme. Because of this scheme, discoms suffered huge losses. The new scheme is for all.
Not loss making scheme
Discom sources said new scheme won’t be loss making for the company. Under Sambal scheme, the registered labourers had to pay merely Rs 200 no matter how much electricity they consumed. West discom noticed that nearly 30 percent of registered labourers consumed electricity worth Rs 800 to 1500 per month.
They paid merely Rs 200 as per government scheme. This incurred loss of Rs 400 crore to discom as it covered 20 lakh consumers under the scheme. The new scheme stipulates that those who will consume more that 100 units will have to pay charges fixed by the company.
