Government Tied Up with Tata Power, Claims Panchanan

Bhubaneswar,18th Aug 2025:  Senior Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo has alleged that due to the “honeymoon relationship” between the Tata Power company, which is handling electricity distribution in Odisha, and the state government, all electricity consumers in the state are being exploited. The present BJP government, like the previous BJD government, has become completely tied to Tata Power, leaving consumers to suffer.

He pointed out that the company collects bills even for one day in a month when electricity is not used — meaning consumers are being charged for electricity they haven’t consumed, adding up to 12 such days a year. Despite Odisha being a power-surplus state, electricity tariffs here are higher than the national average.

Although the state has a power generation capacity of 9,000 MW, only 5,500 MW is being generated, while demand remains at 4,300–4,700 MW. Yet, instead of reducing tariffs, the state government blindly supports Tata Power’s repeated price hikes under the name of “energy charges.” Kanungo demanded the immediate removal of these additional charges.

He also said that, like in Mumbai and Delhi, the cost burden should be shared — 50% by the state government, 25% by the distribution company, and 25% by consumers.

At the press meet, Kanungo highlighted frequent undeclared power cuts that make people’s lives miserable. If all such cuts are added together, consumers face the equivalent of at least one full day without electricity every month.

The cost of purchasing electricity in Odisha is ₹2.40 per unit, but the selling price is ₹7.60 per unit. Of the state’s electricity generation, 82% comes from coal, 11% from hydro, 4% from renewable sources, and 3% from other sources. Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, which earlier stood at 41%, have now reduced to 17%.

Kanungo demanded that:

• The state government bear all electricity expenses for panchayats, anganwadi centers, schools, government water tanks, and rural street lighting.
• The full cost of smart meters should be borne by the government or the company, not consumers.
• The minimum energy charge of ₹20 per kW should be completely withdrawn.
• Since T&D costs have dropped significantly, the per-unit tariff charged to consumers must also be reduced.
• The press meet was attended by Prashant Satpathy, Nalini Kanta Nayak, Debashis Bhuiyan, and Amrita Das, along with Kanungo.