Rs 950 cr loss boz of power cut
The spinning sector in Tamil Nadu has lost 3.89% machinery utilization due to power tripping in 2006, amounting to a loss of over Rs 950 crore, apart from increasing the cost of maintaining electrical and electronics components.Besides machinery utilization loss, there was deterioration in textile product quality and generation of huge waste due to severe power tripping, according to a survey by the Southern India Mills’ Association.The survey conducted for the January-December 2006 period, revealed that the average number of trippings per month per mill was around 29,with an average tripping time of 31 minutes.Stating that tripping was very frequent not only in rural and agricultural feeders, but also in urban feeders,the survey said it was not uniform between mills within the same circle.The minimum number of trippings for some mills was less than five and more than 40 for others.While the duration varied from one to five minutes, it was more than four hours for others, the survey said.In addition, compulsory shutdowns in the name of maintenance and also informing the mills not to draw power for two hours or eight hours, were very often.The Electricity Board earlier used to announce power cuts, enabling the HT industry properly plan production pattern, captive power generation and save fixed expenses like maximum demand charges and also variable expenses like peak hour charges, apart from improving component life.
