The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is facing a major financial crisis. When President Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power the CEB annual loss was Rs. 85 billion and it was reduced to Rs. 45 billion, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.
He was addressing the Galle District Rural Infrastructure Committee under the National Programme to Uplift the Rural Economy. The meeting was held in Hall De Galle recently.
“The loss of the CEB was reduced to Rs. 45 billion by 2020. It costs Rs. 23.87 to generate one unit of electricity, but the same unit is provided to the public at Rs. 16.60. The CEB annual loss is around Rs. 16 billion. For industrialists, too, a unit of electricity is provided at Rs. 12.50,” the Minister said.
Sri Lanka has about 474,000 street lamps. It will cost around Rs. 2 million. For 2.7 million low income families, from 1 to 30 units are supplied at Rs. 3.50 and from 30 units, at Rs. 5.50 a unit.
As a result, the CEB incurs a loss of Rs. 20 billion annually. We will supply renewable energy as a solution to this issue, Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.
