Chandigarh: Electricity department suffered a loss of Rs 185 crore in the last financial year

Chandigarh: After posting losses in the last two financial years, the UT power department is again facing a huge gap in expenditure and revenue collection, which is likely to increase to Rs 194.81 crore in 2024-25. The current fiscal will see a total deficit of Rs 407.69, including Rs 185.96 crore carried forward from the previous fiscal. The department submitted that the net requirement for 2024-25 is Rs 1,081.48 crore and collection from retail sales (at existing tariff) is Rs 886.67 crore. Hence, another Rs 194.81 crore will be required for power purchase and other expenses in the current fiscal. The department posted a surplus revenue of Rs 85.73 crore in FY 2021-22. The next year, the profit turned into a deficit of Rs 5.91 crore. The deficit (difference between expenditure and revenue) widened to Rs 185.96 crore in 2023-24.

This gap is expected to increase to Rs 407.69 crore in the current financial year 2024-25. In a petition submitted to the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), the power department said it is evident that the revenue at the existing tariff is not sufficient to meet the cumulative revenue requirement for 2024-25. “Therefore, it is proposed to amend the existing retail supply tariff schedule in line with the net revenue requirement for 2024-25,” the department said. The net revenue requirement for 2024-25 is estimated to be Rs 1,081.48 crore and collection from retail sales (at existing tariff) is estimated to be Rs 886.67 crore, the department submitted. Therefore, Rs 194.81 crore more would be required for power purchase and other expenses in the current financial year. To deal with the losses, the department has proposed an average increase of about 19.44 per cent in the existing electricity rates for 2024-25. In the petition presented before the JERC, the department has proposed revision of the fixed and energy charges in various domestic and commercial categories for the current financial year. However, the department can implement the revised rates only after getting approval from the commission. No increase has been proposed in the slab of 0-151 units in the domestic category, which remains at Rs 2.75 per kWh. The department has proposed an increase of Rs 4.25 to Rs 4.90 per unit in the slab of 151-400 units and Rs 4.65 to Rs 5.50 in the slab of 401 and above units. In the domestic high pressure (HT) category, the department has proposed an increase of Rs 4.30 to Rs 5 per unit. The proposed tariff plan is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1,059.03 crore for the department in 2024-25. The proposed retail tariff will be in line with the much-needed revenue requirement for the coming year, the department said.