uring its one year in power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has brought some good news to city dwellers. Unlike its initial decision of limiting the 50 per cent subsidy on electricity bills to a year, the Delhi government is set to further extend the scheme.
“The power subsidy is a commitment that we have made to our people and I am happy to say that the scheme is going to stay beyond the stipulated one year,” Power Minister Satyendar Jain told The Hindu .
Fulfilling its big ticket election promise, the AAP government had announced 50 per cent subsidy on monthly electricity consumption of up to 400 units along with a free water scheme of up to 20,000 litres a month just eleven days after coming to power.
He further added that the scheme would stay until the Centre approves its proposal of surrendering Delhi’s surplus power, which is likely to have an impact on the power tariffs.
According to sources, even the free water scheme will be extended. In fact, there could be bigger announcements in the water sector for the benefit of people, officials said.
At present, the government is busy preparing its report card wherein it will highlight its achievements over the past one year.
Various departments have been directed to submit fresh status reports of the government’s poll promises.
Under the subsidy scheme, people using up to 200 units of electricity are paying only Rs. 2 per unit instead of Rs. 4 per unit, while those consuming between 201-400 units are paying around Rs. 3 per unit in place of Rs. 5.95 per unit. Over 36 lakh domestic consumers are benefiting from the subsidy, while the free water provision caters to around 18 lakh people in the Capital.
“The number of consumers availing the power subsidy varies each month. The maximum beneficiaries are during the winter. However, we have analysed and found that on an average 85 per cent of the total consumer base in Delhi are availing this benefit,” said a discom official.
The government while announcing the policy had said the scheme would benefit around 90 per cent of the total power consumers in the city. For the power subsidy, the government had estimated an expenditure of Rs. 1,497 crore.
For March, the last month of the financial year 2014-15, the power subsidy had cost Rs. 70 crore to the exchequer, whereas, for the current fiscal (2015-16) the cost is estimated at Rs. 1,427 crore.
Explaining the rationale behind extending the power subsidy, a senior official said, “It is not easy to bring down power tariffs in the city. We are procuring power at a very expensive cost which is why the tariffs are also high. Hence, subsidy is the only way of fulfilling the government’s promise. Besides, it is not a huge amount considering the plan-size of the Delhi government.” In fact, the actual expenditure on the subsidy could rather be on the lower side of Rs. 1,427, he added.
Initially, the government had planned to keep the subsidy till the CAG audit report was made public, but now in the absence of that possibility since the matter is pending with the Supreme Court, it had to go ahead with the subsidy.
Sources say the free water scheme may be extended too
