Damodar Valley Corporation holds press conference to defend tariff hike amid rising costs as Steel plant in West Bengal seeks Chief Ministers intervention in rising tariffs.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
The Damodar Valley Corporation has defended its electricity tariff hike, which has sparked a row with steel producers. Steel plants in West Bengal have sought the Chief Minister’s intervention to mitigate the sudden rise in tariffs. BJP leaders said industries in West Bengal have been forced to beg for “mercy” from the CM to survive.
On May 29, major industry associations in West Bengal, including the Steel Re-Rolling Mills Association, WB Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association and Damodar Valley Power Consumers’ Association, published an advertisement in local newspapers appealing to Mamata Banerjee. They sought urgent intervention to reverse the recent electricity tariff hike by the DVC, which they claim has increased power costs by 30% for critical manufacturing sectors such as sponge iron, crude steel, and ferro alloys.
In response, DVC officials pushed back and said the last time they got government grants was 1968 and as per the rise in market values, they can rightly demand an increase in power prices.
Cost driven hike
“We survive on our own, other than some small grants from here and there. As a public body, we are not supposed to be money minded, but we need to justify the production costs at least,” DVC Chairman S. Suresh Kumar said at a press conference in Kolkata on Friday (May 30).
Mr. Kumar also added that the stakeholders who are demanding a rebate in tariff have also filed 300-400 cases. “It is a waste of money. We go back and forth to court, but what has to be paid has to be paid. They know that,” Mr. Kumar further stated.
In its statement, DVC accused the associations of “factual inaccuracies” and presenting a “completely one-sided” narrative. According to the power utility, the tariffs are fixed by the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC), not DVC, and have remained largely static since 2018-19 due to prolonged litigation initiated by the associations themselves.
While the row festers, State BJP President and MP Sukanta Majumdar posted a sharp statement on X and said, “Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal is now a begging ground — where industries are forced to publish newspaper ads pleading for mercy. Steel & Ferro Alloys sectors warn: arbitrary power tariff hikes will destroy factories, kill jobs, and push lakhs into unemployment.”
The industry associations also compared West Bengal’s tariffs with those of neighbouring Jharkhand, alleging that Jharkhand’s regulator, JSERC, has maintained significantly lower industrial tariffs, giving local producers there a competitive edge. DVC dismissed this as misleading, arguing that JSERC’s tariff is not cost-reflective and has already been challenged before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).
With both sides entrenched, the ball now appears to be in the court of the State Government. As the appeals of industry gather attention, it remains to be seen whether the Chief Minister will intervene.
Flooding and water release
Every year the Bengal Government claims that DVC releases water from its four dams without informing the government, but officials say that they have sent notifications each time.
“We will try our best not to release water above 50,000 cusecs to avoid flooding. But we also get trapped if there is abnormal rain; then we have to release water,” Mr. Kumar said. He said that they will conduct dredging of the dams, but increased silt collection in recent years has been a major roadblock in dredging activities.
Published – May 31, 2025 04:37 pm IST