No possibility of power tariff hike after GST rollout: Goyal

Power tariff will not go up in the country post GST regime, Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

"I don't see any possibility of spike in power tariff due to implementation of GST. There could be one or two paise variation (per unit of electricity)," Goyal told reporters after his meeting with the industry representatives covering power, coal, mines and renewable energy sectors.

Dismissing apprehension about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is set for July 1 kick-off, the Minister said no body has sought its deferment in the meeting.

In the meeting issues related to tax on by products produced from fly-ash, tax on cables and other issues were discussed.

The provisions regarding the utilisation of fly-ash generated in power plants needed more clarity, Goyal said, adding that he has requested to raise this issue during the next GST council meeting.

With the certain components of the cable industry fall under the 28 percent slab, the Power Ministry will request the council to review that particular industry as it has two regimes coming under 18 percent and 28 percent slabs. Clarity is required to avoid any discrimination by participants in the same sector, he said.

The power ministry will make an analysis on the basis of tax collection before and after implementation of GST to find out if the new tax rates are "inordinately" high or not, he said.