The Maharashtra Cabinet on Friday decided to buy 500MW of additional electricity per day from private firms over the next three months to reduce load-shedding in the state. This will cost the state Rs288 crore per month.

The state will purchase the power at Rs8 per unit, and sell it for Rs3.50 per unit, thus recovering Rs88 crore from customers. It will bear the Rs4.50 deficit on each unit.

The state is currently witnessing an electricity shortfall of 4,500MW per day; rural areas of Maharashtra are experiencing load-shedding ranging between 8 and 16 hours. The 500MW of additional power will reduce load-shedding by an hour, sources in the Cabinet said.

This deficit is expected to be over 5,000MW per day in May. The demand will go down once monsoon starts in June, the sources said.

The Cabinet also decided to allow single-screen theatres to charge up to Rs6 more per ticket to ensure better services for movie-goers. Non air-conditioned theatres can charge Rs5 more per ticket, whereas air-conditioned theatres can charge Rs6 more. Owners of single-screen theatres have been complaining that they are finding it difficult to match the services provided by multiplexes with the current ticket rates.

Surendra Gangan/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication