The Karnataka Government has issued guidelines for residential households to avail the benefit of a maximum of 200 free units of electricity under the Gruha Jyoti Scheme. The scheme will cost the state government INR 13,000 crore annually.
Jun 6, 2023
Guidelines to avail free electricity for up to 200 units under the Gruha Jyothi scheme were released by the Karnataka government, which mandates registration on the Seva Sindhu portal. The scheme will come into effect in July. Shri KJ George, Energy Minister of Karnataka, shared that the scheme will cover 96 percent of households with electricity connections and shall require INR 13,000 crore annually to be powered.
200 free units are the maximum benefit available, and for each customer, monthly average consumption (2022-23) will be calculated, of which they can avail 10 percent more units.
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It was also highlighted that scheme benefits could only be availed for residential use. All consumers shall receive bills. The consumption of 200 or fewer units will generate Zero bills, while consumption of more than 200 free units, additional units will be charged at normal rates. All interested applicants need to register on the Seva Sindhu portal and link their Customer ID/Account ID to Aadhar. To avail of the scheme benefits, the remaining electricity balances till June 30 should be cleared within three months.
Shri KJ George also shared that the government would calculate the annual average consumption of a household and provide a buffer of an additional 10 percent usage, “If this falls within 200 units, the household is eligible for free electricity. If a household crosses its annual average consumption and the 10% buffer, they will have to pay for the extra units.”
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The Karnataka electricity regulatory commission (KERC) has recently hiked the price per unit of electricity by INR 0.51. This is the second hike after the earlier one done on May 12. The per unit price of electricity in the state has been hiked by INR 2.89.
The Karnataka small scale industries association (KASSIA) has threatened to shut down the industry if the recent hike is not reversed. The association argues that such hikes hurt the industry and must be deferred for at least the next two years until normalcy in the economy is restored. “While we accept that this government needs time to settle down before taking any major decisions, such major issues concerning the very survival of industry should have been taken with a little more sensitivity towards our grievances and situation.”
