PSPCL seeks lowest tariff hike in 15 yrs as financial health improves
PSPCL submitted its annual revenue requirement (ARR) of 11% to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on November 30 and it was accepted by the commission on Thursday
Electricity distributor Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has sought 11% tariff hike for the 2024-25 fiscal year, the lowest in the last 15 years.
PSPCL submitted its annual revenue requirement (ARR) of 11% to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on November 30 and it was accepted by the commission on Thursday.
The PSERC would analyse and apply prudent checks on the submission of the PSPCL and would decide the tariff before 31 March, 2024.
The submission by the PSPCL shows a surplus of ₹1,558 crore against revenue requirement of ₹46,000 crores for the financial year 2024-25. With ₹1,558 crore projected profit, the cumulative revenue deficit of PSPCL is expected to come down to ₹5,420 crores during the period.
Officials at the power corporation attribute the cause for the lowest hike to the improvement in the financial situation of the PSPCL during the current financial year.
As of 2023-24, in the first six months till September, PSPCL earned a profit of over ₹500 crore against a loss of ₹1,800 crore during the corresponding period last year. PSPCL incurred a loss of ₹6,837 crore in 2022-23.
In ARR last year, PSPCL had requested 36% tariff hike. However, only 8.64% increase was accepted by the regulatory commission. As per the PSPCL’s data, the maximum increase of 60% was sought during 2014-15 & 2016-17 fiscal years.
Elaborating on the reasons for gain in 2023-24, the PSPCL is said to have cut its power purchase and generation costs considerably by not using imported coal due to operationalisation of Pachhwara coal mine and selling substantial power in exchange.
“The main reasons for deficit during 2022-23 were 1% reduction in tariff in 2021 by the Congress government, led by former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, before the elections. It was followed by the no increase in tariff in 2022 by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Further, during 2022-23, the power purchase cost shot up by ₹4,000 crore due to forced use of imported coal due to country-wide shortage of coal,” said a senior official of PSPCL requesting anonymity.
Senior PSPCL officials told HT that financial position could improve further if power theft worth ₹2,000 crore was curbed and government department pending power bills worth ₹3,500 crore were cleared.
