Hanoi Water Co., Ltd is seeking approval from the municipal People’s Committee to raise clean water price by 20%-30% on the rising input costs starting Oct 1, said Company Director Nguyen Nhu Hai. Accordingly, the water price will rise to VND4,797 per cu.m for the first 10cu.m; up 19.93%; VND5,607/cu.m for the next ten cu.m, up 20.6%; VND6,979/cu.m for 20-30cu.m, up 22.43% and VND12,212/cu.m for 30cu.m and more. The current price, applied for the past four years, is not enough to cover the losses from rising production costs resulted from higher prices of power, chemicals and materials, Mr. Hai said, adding that the company incurs a loss of VND50 billion-VND80 billion ($2.35 million-$3.77 million) per year. He noted that the current low water prices also hinder investment attraction and discourage consumers to save water. Under a roadmap for water price hikes by 2015, Hanoi will raise the minimum price to VND5,773/cu.m in 2014 and VND6,869/cu.m in 2015. The price hike proposal has met with complaints from economists and local residents who said that a few dozen dongs for clean water per month is not a big issue for urban dwellers, but it would cause burdens to rural residents. By 2020, Hanoi targets to provide clean water for 100% of its rural population by 2020 compared to the current 85%. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Sept 11 p2, An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security Sept 11 p1, http://dangcongsan.vn [1] Sept 10)
