Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 1: The state government Wednesday revised the electricity duty (ED) by 1 per cent per unit for the industrial sector and 10 paise for captive power plants (CPPs).
ED rates for CPP have been revised from 20 paise per unit to 30 paise per unit, while for small industries it has been raised from 4 per cent to 5 per cent per unit. For high tension consumers it has been raised from 7 per cent to 8 per cent and for Extra High Tension from 8 per cent to 9 per cent per unit.
The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday.
“Electricity duty rates have not been revised since 2006,” said Chief Secretary GC Pati. He said the government has not hiked electricity rates in domestic and agriculture sectors.
The revised rates will help generate additional revenue of Rs 300 crore annually to fund electrical infrastructure development, said energy secretary Suresh Mohapatra.
The cabinet approved the proposal to amend the Orissa Electricity (Duty) Act 1961 in the wake of enactment of Central Electricity Act 2003, Pati said. Now, power generators up to 50 KV would be exempted from tax. Earlier, the waiver was restricted to generators up to 10 KV capacity.
The cabinet also approved the food and procurement policy for the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2015-16, under which the system of online payment for paddy procurement would be extended to 160 blocks from the existing 100 blocks in the state, Pati said.
The government has also fixed for KMS 2015-16 a target of procuring
30 lakh tonne of rice. This is about
5.5 lakh tonne less than that of KMS 2014-15 and has been fixed in view of the possible crop damage because of scanty rainfall this year, Patil said.
