Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a recent press conference assured the audience that he would provide free electricity to every Punjab household that consumes up to 300 units of power if his party forms government in the state next year. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader did not clarify whether 300 units of free electricity will be given per month as Punjab has a two-month billing cycle.
Kejriwal claimed that despite of being a producer of electricity, the state of Punjab has the most expensive electricity in the entire country. The CM addressed the matter and said, “Punjab has nearly the most expensive electricity in the entire country. Why? Punjab manufactures electricity more than it requires, then why does it have the costliest electricity in the entire country?” Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha and party’s Punjab President and MP Bhagwant Mann too were spotted making similar claims before. Raghav Chadha tweeted on 28th June 2021, comparing the electricity costs of Punjab and Delhi, trying to prove that Punjab Government is looting common people. In the tweet, he attached a video where he can be heard saying, “The people of Punjab are getting the costliest electricity in the country in spite of the fact that the state produces its own electricity.”
Following this, Bhagwant Mann also posted a video on the @AAPPunjab handle, where he said, “Shiromani Akali Dal Government led by Captain Amarinder Singh is looting the people by making electricity costly. Now, the situation is such that in the entire country, power is most expensive in Punjab.”
Meanwhile, Kejriwal said if voted to power, his party government will also waive arrears of domestic consumers. There are many people in villages who got “wrong” bills and their power connections were cut because of the non-payment and such people resorted to stealing power. “They are living in fear. We will give them respectable lives. Therefore, their old domestic bills will be waived. Arrears and pending bills will be waived,” he said.
In another announcement, Kejriwal said if voted to power, AAP will provide 24-hour power supply on the lines of Delhi. Dubbing pre-poll promises as “Kejriwal’s guarantee”, he said despite a surplus power production in the state, long power cuts are imposed and people do not get electricity for farming. “It is a Kejriwal guarantee and these are not Captain’s (Amarinder Singh) promises,” he said.
For checking the authenticity of the claim, electricity tariffs were compared and according to Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economic (AEEE) analysis, the monthly electricity charges are highest in Maharashtra, not in Punjab. Looking thoroughly through the matter, a 2019 Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was found. The report stated that CEA has divided the Power tariff for domestic purposes into different categories – a load of 1 Kilowatt (100 units a month), 2 Kilowatt (200 units a month), and upto 10 Kilowatt (1000 units a month). The report shows for a domestic usage of power load of 1 kW, Rajasthan is the most expensive as the cost is Rs 7.38 per kWh where Punjab’s rate is Rs. 5.83 per kWh. The power charge of Mumbai-Maharashtra for a load of 2 kW and consumption of upto 200 units is Rs 7.76 per kWh if Reliance supplies the electricity. In this case, Punjab costs Rs 6.73 per kWh for a 2 kW load and usage of 200 units. And Tata Powers in Mumbai charges between Rs 9.38 per kWh to Rs 13.39 per kWh to use more than 200 units and upto 1,000 units.
Furthermore, another report released was by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in March 2021, which mentioned the Average Power Purchase Cost (APPC) of different states and union territories.
The report notes, “In case of multiple utilities operating in a State, average of power purchase cost weighted by power quantum of respective utilities was computed to derive APPC for the entire State.”
The APPC for Andaman and Nicobar Islands is Rs 18.45 per unit, which is the highest, while it’s Rs 2.46 per unit for Odisha. When it comes to Punjab, it’s Rs 3.65 per unit, and it is clearly not the highest among other states.
Also, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission assessed the net aggregate revenue requirement of the state-owned Punjab state power corporation by reducing per unit tariff for domestic consumers with loads upto 2kW and consumption slabs of 0 to 100 units and 101 to 300 units by Rs1 and 50 paise, effective from June 1, 2021, to March 2022. Which implies the domestic supply of upto 2kW and consumption of upto 100 units, the tariff will be Rs.3.49 per kWh.
Thus, the claim made by CM was incorrect as it was not based on proper information as Punjab clearly doesn’t have the highest electricity tariff.
