Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Charging flat rate only option

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI March 13. As metering of all electricity consumers, particularly for agricultural and hut connections, will take a few years, only a flat rate can be charged for these sections if the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission decides to scrap free power supply and slap a levy on them.

Though the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has agreed, in principle, to go in for 100 per cent metering of all consumers, in a phased programme, the board — it has made it clear — will need Rs. 853 crores to complete the task. Quite a few reasons are being advanced for a go-slow on metering agricultural pumpsets and hut connections: the low realisation from these consumers, non-factoring of investment required and their reluctance to being metered.

According to TNEB sources, the total cost of metering 16.99 lakh agricultural connections will work out to Rs. 3,792 crores, while the same service to hut connections will involve an outgo of Rs. 209 crores. "We do not know whether it will be feasible to expend such vast sums, without adequate returns on it," explains a senior board official.

As part of a World Bank-assisted Water Resource Consolidation project, the TNEB has awarded a consultancy to a retired Director of the ICAR, S.K. Raheja, for recommending analytical procedures and a sample size assessment of energy consumption by unmetered agricultural and hut service consumers. As his report is expected soon, the Board hopes to initiate follow-up action to instal meters in the sampled services, to collect monthly readings for a year. A proper assessment will then be made of the estimated consumption of power by this sector.

Under the same World Bank project, the board has also engaged another consultant to assess the efficiency of agricultural pumpsets. The study will look at not only their energy efficiency, but also at the quality and reliability of power supply to the agricultural sector, say the sources.

Given this situation, the sources explain, it will not be possible to introduce a nominal tariff of 50 paise a unit, as has been suggested in the board's proposal submitted to the SERC. Instead, there can be an annual, flat levy per horsepower of the motors used. The board hopes that the SERC will at least make good the existing subsidy from the Government, in case the latter decides to suspend this compensation for free supply scheme to the agriculture sector.

Ideally, the board will need to recover the entire outgo of Rs. 400 crores-500 crores on this count. But the ground realities of the farm sector and the successive failure of three crops have to be borne in mind too. It is only when the SERC announces its tariff on Saturday that the TNEB can work out its strategy.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Cooperative mills going private
• DMK surprised at BJP conciliatory moves
• Quota for ex-servicemen in group B posts under TN study
• Vexed TV subscribers won't put up with cartels
• Left divided on attitude to DMK
• Charging flat rate only option
• Only 4 cases remain before special court-I
• Why amplify prayers, asks High Court
• Don't nag DMK, Naidu tells partymen
• Declare Tamil official language, CM tells Centre
• Palani women students still under `threat'

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu