If you live in the eastern suburbs of Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, Mulund or in Thane or Navi Mumbai, you may soon have to pay much more for electricity.

The state-owned power generation company, Mahagenco, which supplies electricity to the state's power distribution firm, Mahavitaran, has projected a 30% to 40% rise in generation costs in its business plan for 2013-14. Mahavitaran wants to pass on the hike in electricity rates to its 1.9 crore users across the state.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) will take a decision on the matter by next month.

Mahagenco has attributed the high generation costs to the increased cost of coal, bad-quality coal and shortage of coal and water. As per Mahagenco's business plan, the cost of generation from 13 plants will be Rs4.46 to Rs5.52 per unit of electricity.

The company has admitted that it has generated 15% less than the national average of 73% power in the past three-and-a-half years and that this is likely to continue.