We will keep MSEDCL power hike low, says Fadnavis

Mumbai: Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) had demanded a power tariff hike of 11 to 12 percent but the government would intervene to bring it down. The power hike is expected to be around seven percent from April 1 according to officials from the energy department.

Replying to a calling attention motion in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis said that reports claiming that MSEDCL consumers across the state would get a rude shock with a 37 percent tariff hike were not true. He said the petition by the state-owned power company to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Corporation (MERC) was for 11 to 12 percent. “But we will submit our petition to MERC to ensure that it remains much lower,” he said, adding that the power hike was inevitable in the wake of the steep global hike in the price of coal.