RInfra proposes no power tariff hike for next two years

Suburban power supplier Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) has proposed no tariff hike for its consumers for the next two years. In fact, some consumer categories will have to pay less for electricity.

Suburban power supplier Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) has proposed no tariff hike for its consumers for the next two years. In fact, some consumer categories will have to pay less for electricity.

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RInfra has, however, asked for a marginal hike in 2015-16 because of high procurement cost. At present, RInfra’s supply is the costliest in the city. By 2015-16 though, RInfra plans to bring a part its tariff in line with the other three utilities – Tata, BEST and Mahavitaran.

The supplier, which services 29 lakh consumers in the city, has made the proposal in its MYT (multi-year tariff) petition for financial years 2013-14, ’14-15 and ’15-16 to the power regulator, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. The regulator will conduct a public hearing on the petition on April 6.

In the MYT, tariff changes only when uncontrolled factors impact the cost of power procurement. It gives consumers an idea on how they should consume power in view of the expected tariff variations.

RInfra’s demand is contrary to the trend of distribution companies in Mumbai, who are seeking tariff hikes for the next three years.

“This is owing to the efficient power procurement, resulting in the lower power procurement cost (down to Rs. 4.15/unit in ’14-15, from the existing Rs4.73/unit),” the company said.

RInfra said consumers will benefit because of its efficient power procurement, and recovering of regulatory assets spread over six years.

“Low-end consumers will pay less, and high-end consumers will pay more because of accumulated regulatory assets,” the supplier said in a release.