Odisha government to hike electricity duty

The Odisha government has decided to hike the electricity duty from Re 0.30 per unit to Re 0.55 per unit. The move has been heavily criticised by the industry. As per the industry estimates, the hike will result in an increase in the cost of production of aluminium by Rs 4,000 per tonne and that of steel by Rs 400 per tonne. Since many CPPs in the state are already running at a plant load factor of 30-40 per cent such a hike will make them unviable.