Power tariffs in Mumbai have been raised by 5-10 percent in the face of rising cost of electricity generation, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has announced.
The increased tariffs will be applicable from April 1. Not just this, the MERC has also approved even steeper power tariff hikes for the next financial year (2024-25) that range from an average of 2.1 percent to 21 percent.
For residential consumers under state-owned discom Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL), which already has the highest electricity rates in Mumbai, bills will go up by 6 percent this year as well as in 2024-25. Industrial consumers can expect a marginal hike of 1 percent this year and 4 percent in 2024-25.
BEST residential customers will face a 6.19 percent hike for 2023-24 and 6.75 percent in 2024-25. For the industrial category, power tariffs will be up by 15.17 percent this financial year and 5.44 percent for 2024-25.
For Tata Power's residential consumers, it will be a 10 percent hike in 2023-24 and 21 percent in 2024-25, while its industrial consumers will face a hike of 11 percent in 2023-24 and a 17 percent hike in the next financial year.
Adani Power's residential customers, who are currently paying the lowest for electricity in Mumbai, will see an increase of 5 percent in 2023-24 and 2 percent in 2024-25. It is also the only discom under which industrial consumers will see no hikes in power tariffs this year as well as next financial year.
As per the power ministry, state power regulators have to mandatorily issue the tariff orders before April every year.
“Despite explicit legal provisions, there are significant delays in the issuance of tariff orders by some of the state commissions. Regulatory assets are being created by some of the state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) as a matter of routine. This is against the letter and spirit of the law and not only negatively impacts the financials of the distribution licensees and their business sustainability but is also prejudicial to the public interest as the discoms do not have enough money to buy power or maintain the distribution system,” a senior power ministry official said requesting anonymity.
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