TN govt's electricity subsidy burden goes up by Rs 394 cr due to tariff hike
An order to this effect was passed by the TNERC to approve the additional subsidy to be paid by the state government for fiscal 2023-24 (from July 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024).
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CHENNAI: The state government's subsidy burden has gone up by Rs 394 crore in view of the energy tariff hike from July 1, 2023, as it agreed to absorb the hike for consumers including domestic, agriculture, handloom and power loom.
An order to this effect was passed by the TNERC to approve the additional subsidy to be paid by the state government for fiscal 2023-24 (from July 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024).
The additional subsidy of Rs 394 crore is in addition to the provisional subsidy of Rs 14,662 crore approved by the commission for 2023-24. The total subsidy to be paid by the state would be a whopping Rs 15,056 crore.
The subsidy goes towards providing free electricity of 100 units bimonthly to all domestic consumers in all slabs, free electricity of 300 units bimonthly to all handloom consumers and free electricity of 1000 units bimonthly to all power loom consumers and reduction in fixed charges, free supply of power to agriculture and hut consumers. It will also cover actual places of public worship.
For domestic customers, the additional subsidy has been calculated for nine months from July to March next year based on the new tariff. For agricultural consumers under the normal category, a subsidy of Rs 94.39 crore has been approved, while for consumers under the Self-Finance Scheme, the subsidy comes to Rs 16,95 crore. The State power regulator has approved a tariff subsidy of Rs 5.26 crore for hut consumers and Rs 8.51 crore for power loom weavers.
