Power tariff to remain unchanged, says Min

Kolkata: State Power minister, Aroop Biswas announced on Wednesday that the power tariff will remain unchanged, moreover, with the completion of the Deocha Pachami project in Birbhum, it is expected to decrease further.

“Loadshedding has become a thing of the past in Bengal with massive development taking place in the power sector. The number of sub-stations which was 422 in 2011 has increased to 936. Work for another 50 are going on and this has contributed to addressing low voltage issue in the state,” Biswas said in his Budget speech of the Power department in the state Assembly.

The state has allocated Rs 4116.70 crore in the power sector for the 2025-26 financial year.

“The Centre owes us Rs 1500 crore for phase I of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) under which the ratio of Centre-state is 60:40. However, our work in further strengthening the power sector is going unabated,” the minister added.

RDSS is a scheme by the Union government to improve the reliability and quality of power supply.

Biswas said that the state is emphasising solar power and has been producing 317.7 MW presently. As many as 2 units of 10 MW solar power will be coming up in Birbhum along with 5 MW floating solar at Turga in Purulia. A 100 MW solar project at Goaltore at an investment of Rs 680 crore is also in the pipeline.

Biswas said that the state is not only self-reliant in power presently but also supplies to neighbouring states.

“With the completion of the upcoming projects, Bengal will be in a position to supply power to the entire country,” an optimistic Biswas said.