E-Paper
Himachal assembly passes bill to levy milk, environment cess on power bills
Himachal CM Sukhvinder Sukhu said the move will help government strengthen milk economy and initiate environment-friendly initiatives
The Himachal assembly on Tuesday passed the Himachal Pradesh Electricity (Duty) Amendment Bill, introducing milk cess of 10 paise ( ₹0.1) per unit and environment cess ranging from 2 paise ( ₹0.02) to ₹6 per unit on the electricity consumption.
The bill, introduced in the house by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday, provides that no milk cess will be levied and collected from the zero bill consumers. The amount of milk cess collected, according to the bill, will be utilised to promote the production and procurement of milk and upliftment of milk producers.
The CM said milk cess has been proposed to strengthen the economy of milk producers while the levy of environment cess is aimed at keeping the environment clean to boost tourism.
“In order to strengthen the milk producers and upliftment of farmers; the cess is proposed to be levied. Further, in order to boost the tourism industry, a clean environment is required to be ensured in the state. Therefore, there is a proposal to levy environment cess on the consumption of electricity,” it reads.
The bill proposes, for small industrial power consumers ₹0.02 per unit will be levied as environment cess, and it will be ₹0.04 per unit medium industrial power consumers. The large industry and commercial consumers will be charged ₹0.1 per unit. Temporary electricity connections will also incur a ₹2 environment cess per unit.
The most affected sectors will be stone crushers and electric vehicle charging stations, where ₹2 and ₹6 environment cess per unit, respectively, have been levied.
The amount collected through environment cess, will be utilised to promote the generation of electricity through renewable energy; and protect the environment in the state. Currently, domestic consumers receive 125 units of free electricity, but the government plans to roll back this subsidy for taxpayers shortly.
