Overview
- The regulator held a public hearing where members cautioned against fast‑tracking the proposal and questioned its complexity and perceived discrimination.
- The plan prices incremental consumption at Rs22.98 per unit for industrial and private agricultural users under DISCOs and K‑Electric, using December 2023 to November 2024 as the reference period for a three‑year term across peak and off‑peak hours.
- Industry bodies rejected the scheme and called for a fixed $0.09 per unit tariff, a lower 40% load factor, simpler eligibility, and options for captive and wheeling consumers to obtain comparable benefits or return to the grid.
- The Power Division defended the package as GDP‑boosting, projecting about Rs1.16 trillion in added output, and noted a clause allowing review or withdrawal if the marginal cost of electricity rises.
- Officials cited rapid solarisation—over 6,000 MW of net metering and 12,000–13,000 MW off‑grid—with agriculture demand down 40–50%, alongside Rs1.7 trillion in idle‑plant capacity charges, as key reasons to encourage higher grid use.