It is no secret that the power sector is riven by debt. Consumers owe electricity boards, which owe generating companies which further owe money to the fuel companies. At the root of all this is tariff structure which does not make the consumer pay for the cost of production.

The avergae cost per unit of power across the country has gone up from 137 paise in 1992-93 to 186 paise in 1996-97. But the average tariff has not ketp pace. During the same period it went up from 105 paise to 149 paise. As a result the tariff is covering only about 80 per cent of the cost of supply.

Among the consumers, the industrial sector is subsidising the agricultural sector. While the industry paid 223 paise for each unit, the farm sector paid about a tenth of that at 21 paise.