By IANS,
Chandigarh : Electricity rates in Punjab were hiked Friday to generate an additional revenue of Rs.950 crore even as most parts of the state are daily facing hours of unannounced power cuts.
Under the new rates announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), power to the domestic sector will cost 29 paise per unit more.
The hike for the agriculture sector (tubewells) is 35 paise per unit. For the industries, it is 5.72 per cent more than the existing rates.
“The increased rates will generate an additional revenue of Rs.950 crore this year,” PSERC chairman Jai Singh Gill told reporters here.
The PSERC had hiked power supply rates September last year. The increase was made effective retrospectively from April 2009.
The hike comes at a time when most parts of the state are facing 6-16 hours of power cuts everyday as the state has not been able to meet the increasing demand