Electricity rate another notch higher!

On the face of it, 7 percent plus increase in the electricity rate would seem sympathetic to the poorest  consumers and farmers using power for irrigation. Subscribers consuming up to 50 units of electricity per month will be exempt from the higher rate and so would be the farmers irrigating lands. Most domestic users of electricity consume more than 50 units a month. The growing middle class with limited incomes who account for sizeable consumption of electricity would therefore take the brunt of the higher electricity bill.   
Whilst these exemptions and making the high-end users pay more may sound altruistic,  these cannot blur the likely concomitant effects of the higher power tariff on cost of living, inflation, investment and industrial productivity.
Fuel price in the international market has decreased, so that apprehension of an increase in subsidies on electricity could be ruled out. Obviously, the government has opted for increasing electricity rate to cut back on subsidies and reduce the losses of distribution companies.
But such an approach smacks of an easy way out pulling the wool over the stark reality that cost of electricity generation has risen through adoption of quick rental projects. The government is required to focus on lowering the cost of electricity generation rather than increasing power tariff. Besides, systemic losses including power pilferage will have to be effectively stemmed with due diligence.