EB Bureau

Indian railways are locking horns with the Mahavitaran the Maharshtra state distribution utility over the proposed  power tariff hike.  Railways not only opposes the hike proposed by Mahavitaran in its tariff for railways but also warns that if tariff proposal is  implemented, railways might consider bringing in the required power from elsewhere using open access.

 The railway authorities made their position clear during the public hearing called by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on tariff proposal of the state distribution utility at Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.

The railways in their submission before the commission claimed, it is wrong to put them in the category of commercial consumer as railway falls under the essential service category. It has not increased passenger fare for last seven years and gives concession to many categories of passengers.

Considering all these issues railways should be classified as HT1 consumer and should be charged only at Rs 3.94 per unit. The railway networks in Maharashtra require around 1,000 Mw of power daily everyday and it pays annually around Rs 750 crore.  

 The Mahavitaran in its tariff proposal demanded to hike tariff for railways from Rs 5.47 per unit to Rs 5.94 per unit.  The state utilities of Maharashtra and Gujarat are the only utilities in the country who charge tariff of more than Rs  5 railway stated in its submission.

 The railways said, it has already tied up for power from NTPC’s plants at Allahabad and Bilaspur in Chattisgarh and besides this its joint venture plant with NTPC at Nabhinagar is also expected to become operational in 2012.

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