Industrial electricity consumers will receive a subsidy from the government following the electricity price hike, in a bid to help boost competitiveness of the industry, media quoting official reported here on Saturday.

Director General of Electricity at the Energy and Mineral Resources named only Jarman said that the government aimed to provide 19.7 trillion rupiah (some 2.074 billion US dollars) subsidy for the industry in the wake of a 15-percent power tariff hike next year.

The figure represents 25 percent of the total electricity subsidy, he said.

The subsidy will be given to 41,900 industrial electricity consumers, he was quoted by Antara News Wire as saying.

Jarman said three groups of electricity consumers, namely households using electricity above 6,600 VA (R3), businesses using electricity above 200 kVA (B3) and government agencies using electricity between 450 and 900 VA (P1) will no longer be entitled to receive subsidy.

Therefore, they will pay power tariff according to the cost of supply plus margin, he said.

He said his office is still familiarizing the public with new power tariffs and the activity is expected to be completed at the end of this month.

"After that, we will work out a ministerial regulation which is expected to be issued before the end of this year," he said.

The tariff hike will be applied in stages, he said.