Rising mercury and Lok Sabha elections are threatening to hit finances of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) hard. The KSEB, which suffered `850-crore damages during floods of 2018, is staring at a yawning revenue gap of Rs 1,100 crore in the current fiscal.
The board’s predicament is that it can sell power that it purchases at Rs 9 per unit, only at an average tariff rate of Rs 2.5 per unit. It has urged the State Tariff Regulatory Commission for a 10% tariff hike, but in view of the Lok Sabha Elections, the state government has shied away from tariff hike. Another option is load shedding. However, state power minister MM Mani has categorically said there would be no load shedding during this summer.
