Himachal cuts power subsidy for consumption above 125 units month

     Shimla, Jun 25 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh residents who consume more than 125 units of electricity per month will have to pay more following reduction in subsidy by the state government.
     Almost four lakh consumers with consumption of 125- 200 units per month will see increase of Rs 40-113 in their monthly bills, an official spokesperson said here on Thursday. 
     People consuming above 200 units will see proportionate increase in their monthly bills as per the consumption, he added.
     The state government will thus save around Rs 100 crore annually.
     The state government decided to rationalise the subsidy as only 18 per cent of the nearly Rs 450 crore annual subsidy goes to the 11 lakh users consuming less than 125 units per month, he added.
     The rest 82 per cent subsidy goes to the nine lakh consumers with consumption of more than 125 units per month.
     There has been no change in the subsidy pattern for the 11 lakh consumers consuming less than 125 units, the spokesperson added. 
     He cited the power tariff of some other states to justify the increase in Himachal Pradesh.
     He said the weighted average tariff borne by consumers with consumption of 125-300 units per month in Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 6.59 and Rs 3.27 per unit respectively, while it is only Rs 2.62 in Himachal Pradesh. 
     Further, the weighted average tariff borne by consumers with consumption over 300 units per month in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi is Rs 7.06, Rs 5.90, Rs 5.72 and Rs 6.50 per unit respectively, while it is only Rs 3.93 in the state. 
     This step has been taken to ensure that the subsidy benefits reach consumers with low consumption patterns, while others should also focus on optimising usage of electricity, he added. PTI DJI ABM
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)