CHENNAI: Electricity Minister SS Sivasankar on Tuesday said Chief Minister MK Stalin has advised that the power tariff of household consumers is to be maintained at the current rate when TNERC issues an order revising the tariff.
He further added the CM has asked for the continuation of all free and subsidy schemes that are in place at the moment. This would mean that the state government would absorb the tariff hike for household consumers, which is likely to increase the tariff subsidy provided by the state government to the financially ailing Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL). The tariff subsidy provided in 2024-25 to TNPDCL was Rs 15,772.21 crore.
In 2023, the state government fully absorbed the tariff increase of 2.18%. This led to the tariff subsidy going up by nearly 25% from Rs 12,069.97 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 14,976.42 crore in 2023-24. In 2024, the government partially absorbed the increase of 4.83%, resulting in a marginal increase in tariff subsidy of around 5%.
Sivasankar’s statement came in the backdrop of the anticipated annual automatic tariff revision that will come into force from July 1 every year until 2026-27, once TNERC issues orders. The revision is linked to the Consumer Price Index based retail inflation for the country for April month of respective year with a cap of 6%.
With the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation announcing that the provisional retail inflation figures for April 2025 stood at 3.16 %, there were reports that this year’s tariff will be increased by 3.16 %. The minister, in his release, dismissed the reports as “unofficial” and said TNERC has not issued any orders.
Since the tariff revision came into force for the first time in September 2022, TNPDCL’s revenue has increased significantly, from Rs 45,953 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 60,505.37 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 71,613.97 crore in 2023-24.
NO EXTRA BURDEN ON household USERS
Min says CM has advised to ensure there is no hike for household consumers
In 2023, the state government fully absorbed the tariff increase of 2.18%
In 2024, govt absorbed 4.83% hike, resulting in increase in tariff subsidy of about 5%