Team News Riveting
Raipur, July 30
Chhattisgarh State Retired Power Engineers-Officers Association has written a letter to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and termed the attempt of the steel industries to get hefty exemption in the electricity tariff as unfair.
The association has said in its letter that the steel industry is creating confusion about the new electricity rates. The fact is that in the current financial year 2024-25, the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC) has increased the electricity tariff for common consumers domestically and farmers by 20 paise per unit. On the other hand, only 25 paise per unit has been increased in high tension consumers that include steel industries.
The unwanted 25 per cent load factor discount being given to the steel industries for the last several years has been rationalized to 10 per cent. The association has said in its letter to the Chief Minister that the statement of the industries that the electricity rates have increased by 25 percent is beyond the truth and misleading. The Commission has increased the energy rate by only four percent (only 25 paise per unit).
The unwanted and unfair discount of load factor has been reduced from 25 per cent to 10 per cent. Giving benefit to the steel industries, the time of off pick hours has been increased from six hours to eight hours. Due to this, the industries will now get electricity for eight hours instead of six hours at 80 per cent of the normal rates. In this way, the electricity rates of steel industries have been made more rational. The association has informed the Chief Minister that every year from July to November, due to low demand for iron, its price falls.
This year also, the price of iron has come down from Rs 42 per kg to Rs 35 per kg. In Raigarh Jindal Industrial Park, where a supposedly cheap electricity facility is available, it is said that more than half of the industries there are closed. Many industries there have been trying to get electricity from Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited for the last several years, but the then management did not pay any attention. In the year 2020 also, a statement regarding the plants being shut down or being shut down due to increased electricity rates was issued by the steel industries. At that time, the load factor for steel industries was reduced to eight per cent by the power company, then the electricity rates were Rs 6.43 per unit.
The government did not pay any attention to the demands of the industries, even then no unit was closed. It is worth mentioning that in April-2020, the price of iron was Rs 26 thousand per ton, whereas today its price is Rs 35 thousand per ton. In the year 2020, the electricity rates were Rs 6.43 per unit, whereas today after including the load factor discount, the electricity rates are Rs 7.50 per unit. If the benefit of off-pick hours is added, then these rates will come down to around Rs 7.44 per unit. A slight increase in electricity rates is not inconsistent with the increase in the price of iron in the last four years. The increase in electricity rates is not making any difference in the operation of these units.
In reality, due to the decrease in demand for iron, its value in the market has decreased. If the electricity rates had increased in January-February, there would have been no reduction in production because every year the price of iron falls during the rainy season and rises after Diwali. The issue is being made by the industries so that they can take advantage from the government under its cover.
The Retired Power Engineers-Officers Association has calculated and claimed that if the industries are given discounts as per their demand, then the state government will have to bear unnecessary financial burden. On giving a discount of Rs 1.40 per unit, the financial burden on the government will be around Rs 1600 crore. On the other hand, the government will have to bear a burden of Rs 1200 crore on a discount of Rs 1 per unit and Rs 600 crore on a discount of 50 paise per unit.
The average cost of electricity supply in the state is Rs 6.92. Supplying at less than this directly means violation of the principles of determining electricity rates. The iron industry is a competitive industry at the all India level. Mainly iron industries are in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Electricity rates in Chhattisgarh are the lowest among all these states. There is no exemption of 25 per cent load factor in any state.
The Association said thus it is clear that the steel industries of Chhattisgarh are unnecessarily misleading people by making an excuse of increase in electricity rates for unfair profit, whereas the reality is that electricity rates in Chhattisgarh are the lowest in comparison to other states.
