The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration has fulfilled one of its promises, as each home would receive 300 units of free power each month beginning today. Around 60 lakh residential users are likely to gain from this campaign.
The state has 73.80 lakh, residential electricity customers. Around 62 lakhs of them consume less than 300 units every month. In terms of finances, the state's "bursting-at-the-seams" electricity subsidy bill will increase to Rs 22,962 crore.
According to official sources, if a home consumes more than 300 units of electricity, it will be required to pay the whole rate as well as the fixed costs. Fixed costs are not applied if the consumption is less than 300 units.
Consumers in the Scheduled Caste, Backward Class, and below the poverty line (BPL) categories would have to pay for any units used beyond 300, in addition to the fixed costs.
Though no announcement has been released regarding this program — the AAP's first assurance offered in the run-up to the Assembly elections last year — it has been revealed that the scheme would first be reviewed at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for a day or two.
After approval, official communication will be sent. "These are only formalities. "The free electricity program will begin on July 1," a top government official informed a news agency. All other free or subsidized electricity programs, it has been learned, will be absorbed into this system.
Aside from that, the previous Channi administration decreased the electricity cost for all household users with a load of up to 7 Kilowatts to Rs 3 per unit. The annual cost of this subsidy is Rs 2,341 crore.
Experts in the power sector worry that the program might have a negative impact on the shift to traditional means of energy generation since users would be attracted by free electricity. This might potentially lead to power theft in order to keep power usage below 300 units.
