Oppn claims power tariff hiked despite KSEB showing profits; ruling front rejects it

The Congress-led UDF opposition on Monday said in the state assembly that despite the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) reportedly showing profits in the last five years, the LDF government increased the power tariffs in the state, a charge denied by the ruling front.

The opposition's allegation was made during discussions on an adjournment motion moved by UDF MLAs over the recent power tariff hike in the state. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly V D Satheesan and Congress MLA Anwar Sadath claimed that the state government had proposed to the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission, an 18 percent hike in power tariffs.

However, the commission in its wisdom reduced it to a 6.6 percent hike, they said and added that therefore, the government cannot contend that the regulatory panel was to blame for the same.

The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission on June 25 announced a 6.6 percent hike in power tariffs in the state.

Revising the power tariff after three years, the Commission, however, said there would be no increase in tariff for the weaker sections, agricultural consumers, small-scale industries, and small farmers.

Referring to a news report of CPI(M) mouthpiece Deshabhimani, the opposition contended that the article said the KSEB had shown profits in the previous five years of the LDF rule.

However, in the assembly, state Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty was claiming that KSEB had suffered losses during those years, they contended and sought to know who was to be believed.

The minister, while opposing the adjournment motion, said that the tariff increase was decided by the regulatory commission and not the state government.

The minister also claimed that KSEB suffered crores of losses in the previous years and only showed a working profit of around Rs 1,400 crore for the financial year 2021-22.

He said that the Board also was in the process of recovering around Rs 2,789 crore, of which the government itself accounts for about Rs 1,300 crore, owed to KSEB as billed amounts.

However, the huge amount to be recovered has no relation to the power tariff hike, the minister said and added that the commission decided to fix the hike at 6.6 percent, as against the 18 percent proposed by KSEB, on the government's suggestion.

The opposition, on the other hand, contended that it was the government's responsibility that recovers the amounts billed by KSEB and the burden of the same should not be imposed on the common man.

They claimed that if the amounts were recovered, power tariffs could be decreased by a small amount.

Given the minister's submissions, Deputy Speaker Chittayam Gopakumar declared the motion rejected by the assembly.

After the motion was rejected, Satheesan, alleged that various irregularities in the KSEB were responsible for the financial problems of the Board.

These irregularities were now leading to a financial burden on the common man through the power tariff hike, the LoP alleged.

He also claimed that power tariffs in neighboring states, like Tamil Nadu, were much lesser than in Kerala.

The LoP said that since the adjournment motion was being rejected, the opposition was staging a walkout.