Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel on Wednesday announced a reduction in the electricity duty on power generated by industrial units for captive consumption.
The reduction comes following a representation made by industrial units that the earlier announced hike would be untenable for them. They had, in a representation to both the department and the chief minister, stated that Gujarat had among the highest electricity duties in the country and the announced hike would be a crushing blow to them.
The minister on Friday said that the electricity duty on power generated by industrial units for captive consumption will now be 60 paise per unit.
It should be noted that until the budget at the beginning of July, the electricity duty for such units was 55 paise per unit. The minister had in his budget speech proposed to increase it from 55 paise per unit to 70 paise per unit. The hike was to be applicable to units that were into self-generation of power from conventional resources for captive consumption. It would have helped the state earn over Rs200 crore of additional income.
The minister also announced that the rate will no longer be linked to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). During his budget speech, Patel apart from hiking the electricity duty had said that the same will now be linked to WPI which effectively meant the rates would see a change every year in accordance with the WPI.
On Monday several representatives of companies including members of various industry bodies met chief minister in this connection. They had represented that the hike would be untenable for several units.
