Telangana: Power hike in offing from January 4

Hyderabad: Power utilities may hike tariff after Telangana joins the Central government’s Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on January 4. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to meet power officials after the Assembly session to take a call on the quantum of hike.

Power distribution companies (discoms) have already filed their annual returns with TS Electricity Regulatory Commisison. The government is not in a position to increase its share of subsidy to discoms due to financial constraints, which would mean passing higher burden to consumers. While the deadline to submit hike proposals to TSERC expi-res on December 31, it is expected to be extended as the state joins UDAY scheme.