Overview
- The Energy Department issued a formal order granting 200 free units every two months to homes that use up to 500 units per billing cycle.
- Households that exceed 500 units keep the existing benefit of 100 free units, preserving the current slab structure for higher users.
- Government and utility estimates put the added annual cost near ₹1,730 crore, lifting domestic power subsidies to about ₹10,100 crore this year.
- The program covers a vast base of users, with 2.45 crore domestic consumers statewide and roughly 2.20 crore likely to qualify under the new cap.
- The move is drawing wider scrutiny, with Odisha rejecting a similar universal scheme and experts pointing to Punjab’s roughly ₹15,500‑crore subsidy bill as a warning on long‑term costs.