Parliament panel suggests amending power tariff policy

The parliamentary standing committee on energy, on Tuesday, suggested amending the current tariff policy to cut down the generation cost and supply affordable electricity to consumers.

In its 26th report presented to the Lok Sabha, the panel stated: “The government should suitably amend the present Tariff Policy, not only to enable it to cater to the needs of the changed scenario but also to achieve its unaccomplished goals, particularly in connection with the efficiency to ensure affordable tariff, rationalization to bring down the generation cost and financial viability in the distribution sector.”

The panel, headed by Rajiv Ranjan Singh, suggested reducing the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in the country, which is still about 21 per cent. The benefit of reduction of AT&C losses should be passed on to consumers, in the form of lower tariff, the panel said.

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Though the government has achieved ‘electricity for all’ under the Tariff Policy 2016, it is yet to ensure affordable tariffs, the panel said.

Terming coal-based thermal power as “mainstay of the power sector in the country”, the panel suggested maximum utilization of all coal-based thermal plants—which will remain mainstay in near future also—in the country, by restricting their emission, through various interventions, including the use of carbon capture technology.

Supply of coal to the power plants also needed further rationalization to reduce generation cost, the panel stated in the report.