THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister K Krishnankutty said in the assembly that KSEB's only source of income is electricity charges and it is not possible to increase the rates excluding domestic consumers. The rate increase is based on the difference between the expected cost and revenue of the company.

"Arrears are not reflected in the revenue deficit as the entire bill amount is treated as income. There is no connection between the arrears and the rate hike", the minister said in reply to P Ubaidullah, N Shamsuddin, MK Muneer, and Kurukkoli Moideen.

The Electricity Board has to get Rs 2771.13 crore in arrears. The Water Authority owes Rs 1194.05 crore. Central government agencies owe Rs 76.41 crore, domestic consumers Rs 394.48 crore, private sector Rs 1,023.76 crore and other sectors Rs 81.08 crore. Out of 1023 crore private companies, 200 crore is in court proceedings.

"The government is of the view that KSEB should not be privatized. The daily power consumption is 78.14 million units and the average annual demand is 28,524 million units. The average daily production is 22.60 million units. There are long-term and short-term agreements to buy power from outside the state to avoid shortages", Krishnankutty said.