Daytime reduction and night-time hike in power tariffs planned
A new Indian power policy, aimed at reducing the strain on fossil-fuel power plants and lowering the risk of night-time power cuts—to come into effect from April 2024 for commercial and industrial consumers and for most consumers, except those in the agricultural sector, a year later—will see tariffs during the day-time come down by 10 to 20 per cent below normal levels and those during the night-time, when AC use is at a maximum, go up by an equal amount.
A new policy being brought by the Power Ministry, outlined by Power Minister RK Singh in a statement on Friday, June 23, will see daytime tariffs across the country cut and night-time tariffs hiked in an effort to manage surging demand and boost the use of renewable energy.
The new policy will come into effect from April 2024 for commercial and industrial consumers and for most consumers, except those in the agricultural sector, a year later.
The policy is aimed at encouraging price-sensitive consumers to run their air-conditioners for fewer hours at night, which would in turn reduce the strain on overworked fossil-fuel power plants and lower the risk of night-time power cuts. It would also help slash emissions.
During the daytime hours, the so-called ‘solar hours’ because of the shining sun, tariffs will be 10 to 20 per cent below normal levels, while during peak night hours, when air-conditioning use goes up as people return home, the tariffs will be 10 to 20 per cent higher.
Searing heat and a post-Covid surge in economic activity in the financial year 2022-23 caused a huge shortage in power supply, as demand grew at its fastest pace in 33 years, resulting in India facing its worst electricity shortage in six years.
