Thousands of consumers in the Bhilai Township region are set to get the advantages of the state government's "Half Bijli Bill Yojana" as the Energy Department issued an official directive on Friday. This move comes after a long-due demand from residents of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) Township who were previously excluded from the purview of the scheme due to their power supply being managed by BSP.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo have generously expanded the scope of this scheme as a token of goodwill towards BSP employees. Notably, all domestic consumers of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited are entitled to a 50 per cent discount on their total electricity bill, for usage up to 400 units per month. Since its inception in February 2019, this scheme has provided benefits of more than Rs 3900 crore to over 42.82 lakh consumers. This newly expanded benefit will also cover 27,000 domestic consumers within the BSP vicinity.

About the released directive

Within the BSP distribution license area, residential consumers will be granted a 50 per cent concession on the cumulative billed amount, covering fixed charges, energy fees, and variable cost adjustments, for electricity consumption of up to the first 400 units per month.

This scheme is set to be effective starting September 1, 2023, and will continue until further notice. The State Government will facilitate an advance payment equivalent to the concession amount to the consumers as reimbursement, which will be processed through the budget. To include the concession amount in the budget, BSP will provide timely proposals to the Energy Department, enabling the state government to allocate the necessary funds.