Eyeing full power subsidy for second time in a row, till date PSPCL gets 16K crore from Punjab govt
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ January 22,2024
Punjab govt has paid Rs 16,221.37 crores as power subsidy to the Punjab state power corporation limited (PSPCL) till January 15, 2024.
Out of these Rs 16,221.37 crores, Rs 8279.83 are for AP (agriculture) subsidy, Rs 5907.74 for domestic consumer (DS) subsidy and Rs 2033.80 crores for industry subsidy.
“In 2022-23, which is the first year when the Punjab government paid the entire subsidy bill of Rs 20,200 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited including the previous pending subsidy amount. The state govt had made five installments of Rs 9020 crore pending subsidy and last year had also paid the first installment of Rs 1,804 crore to the powercom. This year also the power corporation is expecting the same, to get full subsidy amount from the state government. “said an officer of the power corporation.
Earlier the power subsidy was given to the agriculture sector only. But Channi govt announces rebate in tariff, waiving off of unpaid bills amount. later, the Bhagwant Mann led AAP government gave 300 unit per month free power to state residents, irrespective of any caste, creed, religion, category. This led to the increase in the power subsidy amount. In 2021-22, the subsidy was Rs 10,679 crore, which rose to Rs 15,845 crore in 2022-23 and then Rs 18,714 crore in the current financial year.
As per Punjab government, at present 90 percent of residents registered as domestic consumers are getting zero bill. There are approximately 14.23 lakh tubewells in the state and the total subsidy borne by the state .
Eyeing full subsidy for second time in a row, till date PSPCL gets 16K crore power subsidy from Punjab govt . Due to getting regular power subsidy, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in its annual revenue requirement (ARR) has mentioned that it will be surplus by Rs.1558 crores next year based on present tariff.
The annual revenue requirement for 2024-25 has been assessed at Rs.46383 crores and its annual income at the current rates will be Rs.47940 crores. The main component of ARR is power purchase cost which has been assessed at Rs.30062 crores followed by employees expenses of Rs.7281 crores. The transmission charges payable to PSTCL are Rs.1651 crores.
The subsidy payable by the Punjab Government has been assessed at Rs.21910 crores and this comprises of Rs.10148 crores for agriculture sector, Rs.8786 crores for Domestic consumers and Rs.2976 crores for industry. The domestic subsidy for free 300 units per month is Rs.7384 crores and further rebate of Rs.2.50 per unit not covered under free power is Rs.1401 crores.
Soothing News: No tariff hike likely in Punjab next year- PSPCL in profit
