Gruha Jyothi: Rs.4,200 cr burden to State to cover 1.05 cr households for 200 units of free power

HYDERABAD: Gruha Jyothi scheme aimed at supplying free power up to 200 units to domestic low-tension connections in the State will cost a whopping Rs 4,200 crore to the State exchequer. This scheme which is a subhead of Gruha Lakshmi scheme is one of the six guarantees of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Government in Telangana.

To determine the financial burden of this scheme, the Government has asked the electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) to calculate the costs involved. It was found that there are over 1,31,48,000 household electricity connections in the state, out of which 1.05 crore households consume 200 units per month.

As per the data given by the DISCOMs in the white paper submitted to the Assembly by the Congress Government, the domestic consumption of low-tension power in the State was 8601.56 million units in 2014-15 which is around 19 percent of the total consumption. The number rose to 13843.96 MU by 2022-23 which is around 19 percent of the total consumption.

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The total cost of supplying electricity to these connections is around Rs. 350 crore per month, with an average supply cost (ACS) of Rs. 7.07 per unit. However at present, a charge less than the ACS has been collected from consumers of below 200 units. It must be seen how the Government will allocate additional funds in the new budget if it decides to apply ACS for the payment of the scheme.

Based on the current consumption, it would require the state Government to pay approximately Rs. 4,200 crore per year to the DISCOMs for the implementation of free power supply. However, further clarity is required regarding the allocation of funds for this scheme.

The Government is planning to create a special portal for registering the details of the 1.05 crore households that will receive free electricity. All the relevant information about their electricity connections will be enrolled on this portal.

However, the Gruha Lakshmi portal clearly mentioned that the beneficiaries must apply through the Praja Palana application form by downloading it and filling up the details on pages one and three. This might lead to confusion as the Praja Palana application receiving process ended on January 6, 2024. However, whether the same application applied during Praja Palana will be considered or a fresh application needs to be submitted afresh is not clear.

In Karnataka, users have been given the option to register directly. The Government of Karnataka has been implementing a similar scheme of providing free electricity of 200 units per month to households since August last year.

Telangana Government is collecting information from DISCOMs to decide whether to follow the same approach or provide the 200 units to all the 1.05 crore consumers.

Eligibility criteria for Gruha Jyothi

• The applicant must be a resident of Telangana.

• The applicant’s household should consume less than 200 Units per month to be eligible for the scheme.

• The applicant should not have any outstanding electricity bills, which means the scheme is not applicable for bills that haven’t been paid in a long period.

• The scheme offers this benefit only for domestic usage and not for commercial purposes.

• In case of multiple households held by an applicant, the applicant can get the benefit for only one house, in case of multiple houses.

• The Aadhar card of the applicant must be linked to the Customer ID / Account of the Electricity bill.

Documents Required

These are the documents that are required to apply for the scheme.

• Aadhar Card,

• Latest electricity bill,

• Customer ID of electricity bill,

• Proof of residence,

• Tenant document (if applicable),

• Rental document (if applicable)

• Photocopies along with original copies must be kept ready to apply for the scheme, as per the news, the beneficiaries can apply for the scheme offline or online.

How to apply

• Download the Praja Palana application form

• On page number 1 enter your basic details by attaching your passport photo

• On page 3 you will find the Gruha Lakshmi scheme application details

• In row 1.1 tick how many units of electricity have been consumed by your house in the previous month

• In 1.2 row, enter your electricity meter connection number

• By doing the above steps finally come to the page 4 and enter your name and signature

• Submit the application to the gazetted officer of your mandal panchayat

Solar power units

The government is also exploring the possibility of providing solar power units to all households that consume up to 200 units of electricity per month. This would eliminate the need for subsidy payments to DISCOMs.

However, the installation of solar power units for all households would require an estimated cost of Rs. 10,000 crore. Officials have determined that a two-kilowatt solar power unit can generate 2,880 units per year. The cost of installing such a unit is Rs. 1.30 lakh, with a subsidy of Rs. 36,000 provided by the central Government. The remaining amount of Rs. 94,000 needs to be borne by the state Government.

If each household has a solar power unit, the charges for the 2,880 units currently paid to DISCOMs would amount to Rs. 12,235 per year. Based on this calculation, the Government would recover the Rs. 94,000 investment in approximately seven and a half years. However, the main challenge lies in financing the cost of setting up these solar power units for all households.