Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi is likely to provide approximately Rs. 3250 crore subsidy to the residents of capital for the usage of up to 400 units of power per month.
The amount proposed by the power department to the Delhi government has been factorized in detail with regards to units of consumption and the total number of consumers presently living in Delhi. The amount of around Rs. 3200 crore will be used to subsidize 43 lakh electricity consumers within the NCT region. The consumers have been categorized into different groups: one, households with per month electricity usage of unit 200 or less, and second, households who have monthly power consumption between 201 to 400 units.
In 2021, the AAP government provided Rs. 3090 as an estimated budget subsidy to state power consumers. This year the budget session will commence on March 23 and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia is predicted to present the budget for power subsidy on March 25.
As per the records, the capital city host 27.7 lakh such consumers whose electricity usage per month is less than or equal to 200 units, almost 50% of the over 54.5 lakh domestic consumers. These consumers pay nothing to the power department under the Delhi government’s free electricity scheme. The consumers with electricity usage between 201 to 400 units were given a 50% subsidy in the monthly bill amount. However, this amount is halted at Rs. 800 per month for these consumers (approximately 15.5 lakh consumers).
Overall, around 86% of domestic connection consumers can avail the Delhi government’s power subsidy. As per records, the number of consumers in these two groups varies seasonally. In summers, with the usage of fan, coolers, and ACs, the number of consumers within the 200 unit or less group decrease vehemently, while it increases exponentially during the winters.
For Aam Aadmi Party, free electricity and free water have been the biggest agenda of their election strategy. The budget to them needs careful consideration as it is the breadwinner for AAP in the capital. Before the free electricity scheme of the ruling government, the consumers of poor households were still charged with minimum basic charges if the monthly usage was less than 200 units. The slab was set at Re. 1/unit instead of Rs. 3/ unit. The same basic charges were charged for consumers hitting the monthly unit between 201-400, i.e., Rs. 2.5/unit instead of Rs. 4.5/unit.
