The ruling Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) decision to hike power tariff by 16 paise per unit in Kerala has prompted the Congress-led Opposition to allege that the move was aimed at benefiting Adani Power.
The new rates came into effect on Friday.
This is the fifth time that the Pinarayi Vijayan government has raised power tariff since 2021.
The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) gave its nod to the Kerala State Electricity Board’s (KSEB) proposal to go for a tariff hike following the cancellation of a long-term 465MW power purchase agreement (PPA), which was signed during former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s tenure in 2015.
Under the PPA, the Kerala government had intended to buy electricity at ₹4.26 per unit for 25 years. The KSERC had cancelled the PPA citing procedural and technical lapses in 2022. The KSEB couldn’t cope with the sudden loss of 465MW power, which had helped it avoid power cuts.
Following the burgeoning power crisis, the electricity board was forced to enter into long- and short-term PPAs, which saw exorbitant rates being quoted by the power companies that took part in the tendering process.
On Saturday, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan alleged that the PPA cancellation was aimed at helping Adani sell power to the KSEB at exorbitant rates.
“The KSEB was making profit during UDF rule. The board’s liability has shot up from ₹1,083 crore in 2016 to ₹45,000 crore this year. The PPA from the Chandy government’s tenure was cancelled to give it to the Adani group. It’s the consumers who are left high and dry. We, the UDF and the Congress, have already decided to hit the protest path,” Satheesan said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is trying to get a foothold in Kerala, has been holding a series of protests against the KSEB’s proposal.
AAP Kerala president Vinod Mathew Wilson told The Telegraph that the regulatory commission had not completely toed the power board’s line.
“The KSERC has not completely agreed to the demands of the board where ₹11-₹12 hike is happening in the bi-monthly power bill. The KSEB had proposed a 37 paise hike, including a summer tariff raise of 10 paise per unit for 2024-25, which had been turned down. We held protests against the hike on Saturday,” he said.
Karnataka contradiction
At a time the Congress is up in arms against the power tariff hike in Kerala, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) has proposed a similar move in Karnataka where the party is in power.
BESCOM has proposed an increase of 67 paise per unit for 2025-26, 74 paise
for 2026-27, and 91 paise for 2027-28.
BESCOM has said the hike will affect those who were not enrolled in government schemes such as the Gruha Jyothi, which provides free power up to 200 units to eligible consumers.
Bengaluru-based V.K. Somasekhar, founder-trustee of the NGO Grahak Shakti,
told The Telegraph that BESCOM’s proposal would deal a huge blow to the
consumers.
“When the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission was constituted in 2005, it was working efficiently. But after a few years, it started to toe the line of the ruling governments. Now they have become a stooge of the Siddaramaiah government, having scant regard for the consumers,” he said.
