Madhya Pradesh assembly has cleared the proposals of the 2014-15 budget of more than Rs 10,000 crore.
The state-run power distribution companies (discoms) have been allotted Rs 7,7 28 crore by the government.
State power discom companies had been given working capital or loans, according to finance minister Jayant Malaiya said.
State government has already made an allocation of Rs 5,471 crore in its annual budget for power sector.
The working capital loan needs to be converted into consistent loan and hence the discom companies need an amount of Rs 7,728.45 crore.
Recently, the power discom companies which had proposed a tariff raise said that their revenue gap ranges between Rs 1,600 crore and Rs 1,835 crore.
Discom companies had recently proposed 24 per cent hike in power tariff. The government further made provision of Rs 275 crore against tariff subsidy for MP Power Management Company Limited and power distribution companies.
Last week, the MP Power Management Company Ltd (MPPMCL) and the discoms have proposed an average tariff hike of 22.86 percent for domestic category and 12.93 percent to 39.74 percent for the industrial category.
Terming the proposed 27 per cent hike in power tariff by discoms as punishment to consumers for inefficiency of distribution companies, the consumers protested the hike by demonstrating before Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (MPERC).
Recently, to discourage discoms from spending on heads, a farmer body has asked the Madhya Pradesh government to get the accounts audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The farmers’ body is concerned about discoms passing on the fixed charges and variable charges paid to private firms under the power purchase agreements (PPAs) onto the customers.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated to the nation two units each of 600 MW of Shree Singaji Thermal Power coal-fired plant located in Khandwa, owned by MPPGCL.
Sabeena Wahid
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