Assam government likely to increase electricity bill as demand surges from 1800 MW to 2500 MW

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted that there has been a staggering rise in power consumption in the past few months, despite the fact that the production capacity in the state is less.

Speaking to media persons in Guwahati, Chief Minister Sarma said that the demand for power supply stood at 1,800 megawatts last year, however, the figure has shot up to 2,500 megawatts this year - indicating a surge of 700 megawatts. 

"In the early days during the peak time, electricity consumption in the state stood at 1800 MW and the own production or tied up stands at 1650 MW but this year the demand has suddenly gone up to 2500 MW which was not within our apprehension," said CM Sarma.

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He added that the price of electricity may rise to Rs 1.5 per unit if it has to be bought from open sources.

Further, the chief minister also remarked that in the open source, the price of electricity stands at Rs 10 per megawatt.

"If we have to give 24-hour electricity to each and every resident then the state government has to procure 700 additional megawatts and have to spend RS 6 crore every day to the market," the CM added.

The chief minister also said that a decision will be taken at the upcoming cabinet meeting which is scheduled to take place on September 8 and decide if the state wants APDCL to buy power from the open source or resort to load shedding for 15-30 minutes.