Industry to pay higher power tariff from next month
Himachal industry will have to bear higher tariff from next month and the advantage of having lower freight than the neighbouring states has been lost with the imposition of an environment cess, milk cess and withdrawal on subsidy on Re 1 increase in power tariff.
CM Sukhvinder Sukhu on September 10 introduced the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Duty Amendment Bill, 2024 in the Assembly. It was subsequently passed. The enhanced power tariff will be applicable from October 1.
Aggrieved, the industry today requested the state government to reconsider its decision as it will adversely hit the business. Reeling under severe resource crunch, the state government has imposed a milk cess of Rs 0.10 per unit, an environment cess ranging from Rs 0.02 per unit to Re 0.10 per unit on various industrial consumers besides withdrawing subsidy of Rs 1 on the power tariff.
Employees over 7 lakh people
- Industry contributes 43 per cent to state’s GDP
- Employees more than 7 lakh people
- Utilises more than 50,000 transport vehicles
- Consumes more than 60 per cent power
- The enhanced power tariff applicable from October 1
This triplefold increase will make the power tariff higher than Uttarakhand, Haryana and J&K and Punjab for power intensive units (PIUs) like steel and iron units, according to a comparison submitted by the industry to the state government, industry association said.
“Not only will the unique selling point of the state in having lower power tariff be lost but it will discourage the industry,” informed Rajiv Aggarwal, president, Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association.
Aggarwal was hopeful that the government would consider its view point as the industry is the biggest employer and contributes to the state’s gross domestic produce.
The association, a conglomerate of 550 industrial units comprising PIUs and cement firms, today submitted a representation to the government drawing a comparison between power tariffs of neighbourings states. As per this comparison, the power tariff is set to increase in the range of 5.74 per unit to Rs 7.72 per unit for various categories like small, medium large, general, PIUs and cement plants from next month. In Punjab the power tariff ranges from Rs 7 per unit to Rs 7.36 per unit. The general category industries, PIUs as well as cement units in Himachal will have to shell out more on power tariff vis-à-vis Punjab, Uttarakhand and Haryana while in Jammu and Kashmir the effective tariff for all categories was much lower than Himachal.
Likewise, in Uttarakhand, the power tariff ranges from Rs 6.01 per unit to Rs 7.42 per unit while in Haryana it is in the range of Rs 5.09 per unit Rs 6.64 per unit. J&K offered a much lower tariff ranging from Rs 4.62 per unit to Rs 5.48 per unit. Cement price will register a sharp increase from next month. The 3 cement plants of Adani group will have to bear an additional liability of Rs 40 cr-50 cr while the two units of Ultra Tech will bear as much as Rs 20 crore additionally on power.
