An average hike of 2.6 per cent in power tariffs for all sectors was announced by Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on Monday. The hike was introduced even though it came down on the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) on the issue of interest charges on loans taken by it.

PSERC chairman Jai Singh Gill, who announced the tariff order said that the annual revenue requirement of the board for 2008-09 had been determined at Rs 11,174.97 crore against Rs 13,855.28 crore projected by the board. He further told that the new tariff for the year 2008-09 would be implemented with retrospective effect from April 1.

A hike of 3.5 per cent has been introduced for domestic consumers, while for agriculture sector; tariff hike would be 4.4 percent. Further average hike across the borad on commercial sectors would be 2.5 per cent.

With the new tariff in place, the Parkash Singh Badal government will have to bear a subsidy to the tune of Rs 2600 crore, 37 per cent more than the previous year subsidy on the farm sector.

In terms of money the average hike across-the-board would be between 7-11 paise. The hike in farm sector has been done as it had already been subsidized.

Gill said the hike would generate additional revenue of Rs 250 crore for the cash strapped Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

There would be no increase in case of public lighting and bulk supply categories.