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The affluent class may soon see their bi-monthly power bills going up by 40%.

Soon after the chief minister, in a televised speech on Thursday, set the stage for a hike, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board submitted a proposal to hike tariff for high-end users with consumption above 500 units bi-monthly by about Rs 1.50 per unit. TNEB hopes to mop up additional revenue of Rs 8,200 crore annually through the revision which would also make industries and commercial units pay a rupee more per unit.

For domestic consumers who pay about Rs 2,000 every month, the proposed hike would mean additional expenditure of about Rs 800. Low-end domestic consumers have been spared. The additional revenue, along with the promised Rs 2,000 crore investment by the state, will help TNEB partly bridge its Rs 9,500-crore annual deficit.

Tamil Nadu currently has the lowest domestic power tariff in the region, with a unit of power priced between 70 paise and Rs 4.70 against generation cost of Rs 5.31. No hike in power tariff for 10 years.

Power tariff had remained untouched for more than a decade till 2010, when the DMK government hiked it for a few commercial segments. Jayalalithaa had recently appealed to the Centre for financial assistance, but to no avail. Last year, TNEB incurred losses of Rs 3,000 crore from subsidies for the domestic sector while Rs 6,500 crore worth dues was written off by providing free power to the agriculture sector. It also lost Rs 150 crore on free power to slums.

- times of india