SRINAGAR: The Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has opposed the latest power tariff order of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), alleging that industrial consumers have effectively been burdened with a nearly 10 per cent increase in their principal energy charges.
The apex industrial body has urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and seek a review of the tariff order, saying the hike could further strain existing industries already facing multiple challenges.
In a statement, FCIK said the energy charge for LTIS-I consumers had been increased from ₹4.20 to ₹4.60 per kVAh, while the rate for HT industry consumers at 11 kV had gone up from ₹4.10 to ₹4.50 per kVAh. The increases work out to 9.52 per cent and 9.76 per cent, respectively, besides the rise in fixed and demand charges.
“ For industry, 6.83 per cent is therefore not the real story,” the federation said, referring to the widely publicised average tariff increase. It added that the power distribution companies, KPDCL and JPDCL, had proposed only a 5 per cent across-the-board increase, while the final order imposed a substantially higher increase on the principal industrial energy charge.
FCIK said even a 5 per cent increase would be difficult for many existing units to absorb, with several industries operating at low capacity utilisation and struggling for viability.
It said the timing of the hike was particularly concerning as the government was preparing a new Industrial Policy with the revival of existing industrial units among its key objectives.
“A near-10 per cent escalation in a basic input cost at this stage could further suppress production, impair competitiveness and frustrate the very process of revival,” FCIK said.
The federation also questioned why industrial consumers should bear the burden of wider distribution-system inefficiencies when industrial electricity consumption is fully metered. It said HT consumers were subject to precise energy and demand metering and regularly billed for their consumption.
“Theft, unmetered consumption, deficient billing, poor recoveries and commercial losses elsewhere cannot indiscriminately be loaded upon an identifiable, metered and regularly billed consumer category,” it said.
FCIK also referred to JERC’s previous tariff order, in which the commission had described distribution losses as a “controllable parameter” and held that inefficiencies should not be passed on to consumers.
The industrial body sought greater transparency on distribution losses, calling for disclosure of voltage-wise and category-wise technical and commercial losses, theft, unmetered consumption, collection efficiency and the actual cost of serving industrial consumers.
It also criticised the stakeholder consultation process, alleging that it had been more of a statutory formality than meaningful consultation. According to FCIK, stakeholders had initially been presented with an across-the-board 5 per cent proposal, whereas the final increase in the principal industrial energy charge reached nearly 10 per cent.
The federation said stakeholders should have been given a meaningful opportunity to respond if JERC intended to impose a significantly higher burden on a particular consumer category.
FCIK further called for scrutiny of power-purchase and transmission costs, procurement efficiency, operation and maintenance expenditure, bad debts, collection shortfalls and non-tariff revenues before additional costs are passed on to consumers.
The federation said industries in Jammu and Kashmir faced unique challenges, including difficult terrain, geographical distance from major markets and raw-material sources, high freight costs, harsh winters and a limited working season in Kashmir.
“Revival of industry and escalation of its basic input costs cannot travel together,” FCIK said.
The federation has consequently appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to direct the Power Development Department, JPDCL and KPDCL to file an urgent review and reconsideration petition before JERC against Order No. 06 of 2026.
It has sought restoration of the pre-order tariff for existing industrial consumers and urged the government to keep the enhanced tariff in abeyance pending review and reconsideration by the commission.
