Industry & Economy
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Taxation
Bengal proposes to impose levy on thermal power
Our Bureau
Kolkata
,
Feb. 25
THE West Bengal Government plans to impose a levy of one paisa per unit on thermal power to expand the scope of using renewable energy sources. The levy is expected to generate Rs 25 crore every year. Bulk of the money raised will be used for rural electrification using renewable energy.
The State Government also plans to bring into force a legislation to counter power theft, which will make imprisonment mandatory. Under the existing act, the guilty is imprisoned for failing to pay the fine levied.
Talking to presspersons here on Friday, the State Minister for Power and Non-conventional Energy Sources, Mr Mrinal Banerjee, said the Government would be presenting a Bill combining both the issues in the March session of the State Assembly.
"We have already had a round of discussion with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) on imposition of the proposed levy. We will seek their approval once the Assembly clears the Bill," he said. Currently, Maharashtra imposes a corresponding levy of three paise.
Earlier, addressing a seminar on `Mainstreaming' renewable energy, Mr Banerjee said that the State Government had decided to electrify 2,000 remote villages by 2007 using alternative energy sources.
One hundred villages in Darjeeling had already been identified for electrification using mini or micro hydel and bio-mass sources.
"These villages are so isolated and thinly populated that traditional methods of electrification will be economically unviable," he said, adding that the proposed 10 KW to 50 KW generation units would be linked through a local grid for optimum capacity utilisation.
This apart, the State Government has already cleared 23 private project proposals. These include 12 mini-hydel, 9 bio-mass and 2 wind power generation units.
The State has already commissioned 40 bio-mass based power generation units, mostly in the rice mills, having a combined capacity of 16 MW during the past three years.
Meanwhile, the State Government is in the final stages of setting up the first tidal power project in the Sunderbans. The 3.6 MW project is now awaiting environmental clearance.
"Commissioning is expected to begin in next few months," Mr Banerjee said.
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