4.94 million consumers in city got subsidy on power bills

Around 4.94 million households received electricity subsidies in 2022-23, for which the Delhi government released a total subsidy amount of ₹3,161.22 crore, the latest Economic Survey tabled on Friday said. The government has kept a provision of ₹3,250 crore for the 2023-24 financial year (FY), the survey said.

This was an increase of nearly 170,000 households, with 4.77 million households receiving electricity subsidy in 2021-22, data showed.

The Economic Survey said around 35,042 million units of electricity were consumed in Delhi in 2022-23, which was a significant rise from the 31,116 million units consumed in 2021-22. The peak power demand also rose marginally, with 7,695 MW being successfully met in 2022-2023. The peak was 7,323 MW in 2021-22. Despite this, load shedding continued to remain at a two-decade low of 0.019% of the total consumption, the survey added.

“Electricity prices have not been increased in Delhi since 2015. During 2022-23, there were about 4.94 million households, getting electricity subsidy in Delhi (more than 77.16% of the total domestic electricity consumers),” said the survey. In 2021-22, 4.77 million households had received some form of electric subsidy from the government.

At present, a zero bill is generated if up to 200 units are consumed during the entire month. Meanwhile, a subsidy of up to ₹800 per month is given by the government if the consumption is between 201 and 400 units per month.

“Delhi has already achieved 100% electrification. Delhi, being an urban place with a high load density, has seen electricity consumption increase from 25,593 million units in 2011-12 to 35,042 million units in 2022-23. Delhi has its unique load pattern and peak load problem due to the predominant share of domestic consumption and extreme weather conditions,” said the survey.

It also said Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT&C) continued to decrease in Delhi and was 6.42% in 2022-23. AT&C is the difference between energy units put into the system and the units for which the payment is collected.

“After reforms in the power sector, AT&C losses in Delhi reduced significantly from 52% in the pre-reform era in 2002 (before July 2002) to 6.42% in 2022-23,” said the survey. AT&C losses were 7.20% in 2021-22.

Data showed that a total of 40,997 million units were purchased in 2022-23, out of which around 9.65% came from Delhi’s own sources. The remainder 90.35% were purchased from the central government and sources beyond Delhi. Delhi currently has a renewable energy installed capacity of 339 MW, which includes 255 MW as solar energy and 84 MW as waste-to-energy generation.