THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the state budget purposed measures to uplift power sector, the move to hike electricity duty hasn’t gone down well with consumers and other stakeholders.
The decision to enhance the duty for consumers, from 1.2 paise to 15 paise per unit, has come under flak from the Kerala Electricity Officers’ Confederation (KEOC), the trade union attached to Congress, which sees it as an added burden on consumers and KSEB, which is already reeling under liabilities of over Rs16,000 crore.
The government expects the enhanced duty to generate additional revenue of Rs24 crore annually.
P S Prasanth, general secretary of KEOC, said the board has been levying electricity duty from consumers based on the Electricity Duty Act, 1963.
The budget also announced a hike in duty on sale of power, from 6 paise to 10 paise per unit. This measure is expected to raise Rs101.41 crore
1k MW Solar power target
Rs 30 crore allocated for 15 dams under DRIP II
Allocation for energy sector is Rs 1,150.76 crore
654.5 MW of electricity generated additionally. Government aims to achieve 1,000 MW installed capacity through solar energy in 2024-25 .
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