Amidst the impasse on the issue of the power tariff order, chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said that her government would not do anything which could harm the interests of anybody. Further, in response to the claims of the DERC that the private power distribution companies (discoms) are earning healthy profits, two discoms on Friday, while replying to the power regulator’s letters, stated that the claims are wrong.
Speaking to reporters, Ms Dikshit said that the Delhi government has not yet received the statutory advice of the DERC on power tariff. “The city government will like that the new tariff order does not create imbalance. A new system in the power supply has come into force. Power is becoming costlier as generation is now shifting more to gas-based power stations. Also, the power trading is going on, which is also pushing up the cost,” said Ms Dikshit.
Rejecting the claim that the Delhi government had stopped the DERC from announcing the new tariff order, Ms Dikshit said that her government only wanted all the stakeholders to be taken on board. “It is the work of the DERC to look into the accounts of the discoms. Two years ago, the DERC had hiked the tariff and it was our government which took steps in the form of subsidy to ensure that the burden does not go to the consumers,” said the chief minister.
Meanwhile, the BSES-Rajdhani in its reply to the DERC has stated that the “regulator has completely ignored the context in which the representation to Delhi government was made by it as well as the sectoral and regulatory realities in the capital”.