Power sops for poor to stay

Here’s some good news for those people whose power consumption is less than 150 units during non-peak hours every month, reports HT Correspondent.

Here’s some good news for those people whose power consumption is less than 150 units during non-peak hours every month.

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The Delhi government on Thursday decided the subsidy given to such power consumers would continue. “We will continue with the subsidy to those whose monthly consumption does not cross 150 units,” said chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

The subsidy would benefit poor consumers whose monthly power consumption is not more than 150 units during non-peak hours and up to 200 unit during peak hours.

Asked whether the government would roll back either in full or part an existing subsidy that might make power dearer by around 10 per cent, Dikshit said: “We are examining the DERC report. We will take a decision on whether to roll back or extend the subsidy to other categories after evaluating the report.”

The state had extended a subsidy to the tune of Rs 300 crore to different categories of power consumers in the city last year to avoid a increase in tariff. The subsidy expired on May 31. The government began subsidising power in 2006-07 following protests against a hike in tariffs by city residents.

Power watchdog Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had announced on May 28 that tariffs in the city will not be hiked this year.