Former Tripura Power Minister and CPI(M) leader Manik Dey on Saturday questioned how the state government plans to compensate for the revenue shortfall arising from its decision to bear 100 per cent of the recently increased electricity tariff as a subsidy.

Addressing a press conference at the CPI(M) state headquarters, Dey said the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) is facing a revenue deficit of more than Rs 1,700 crore. He claimed that the Electricity Regulatory Commission had allowed a tariff hike to help the corporation recover a deficit of around Rs 479 crore, with an initial provision to recover Rs 117 crore.

“Now the government is saying that it will bear the increased tariff as a subsidy, but there is no clear indication of how the resulting financial gap will be met,” Dey said.

He also alleged that fixed electricity charges have increased substantially since 2018. According to him, the fixed charge, which was earlier between Rs 25 and Rs 35, has now risen to between Rs 210 and Rs 300. For commercial consumers, he claimed, the charge has increased to around Rs 450–600.

Dey further criticised the increase in fuel charges and claimed that the per-unit electricity cost, which stood at Rs 3.54 before 2018, has risen to Rs 7.61 over the past eight years.

He alleged that the government was gradually pushing the state electricity corporation towards privatisation and claimed that the corporation, which had previously been profitable, was now facing financial difficulties.

Referring to recent central government guidelines, Dey alleged that private power companies seeking to enter a state should not face hurdles from the electricity regulatory commission or the state electricity corporation.

Former minister Bhanulal Saha, CITU state general secretary Shankar Prasad Datta and others were also present at the press conference.