Power !! Power !! Power !! Industries Crying .........!!!
The small-scale industries here have appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission to ensure equal distribution of power to all consumers in the State. In a memorandum to the commission, the South India Small Spinners’ Association has said that the HT consumers faced about 72 per cent power cut. According to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board grid details, the shortage of power was 17 per cent. However, the board was implementing 72 per cent power cut. “There is no justification on the power cut and there is no equal distribution of power,” the association said.The textile mills would be viable only if the units were operated at 90 to 92 per cent efficiency. However, during the last three or four months, the units were operated at only 50 to 60 per cent efficiency. The board was responsible for the supply and power cut was a lack of service to the customer. Hence, the commission should recommend to the board to reimburse Rs. 6.60 a unit for operating generator sets or supply diesel at a subsidised rate to run the captive generation sets. The maximum demand cut should be brought down to 30 per cent or power should be supplied without any restriction on the grid consumption.
The Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises has said in a release that implementing the 40 per cent for industries and increasing the tariff for units that failed to comply with the restrictions would lead to loss of business to industries in the State. These orders would go to units in other States and could even lead to closure of several industries in the State. The government should support captive power generation by the industries, the association said. The association planned to organise a series of protests demanding measures by the Government to save the domestic industry from the power crisis.
