The Hindu Business Line : Power sops sought for ferro alloys units

THE Indian Ferro Alloy Producers' Association (IFAPA) has urged the West Bengal Government to ensure that concessions in power tariffs that have been promised to ferro alloy units that have come up in the Bishnupur Industrial Growth Centre of Bankura district are provided.

If this does not happen, not only will the investment worth Rs 200 crore go down the drain, but also further investments in the ferro alloys sector would be diverted to neighbouring States such as Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and even Meghalaya, where the cost of power is lower, according to Mr P. Roy, Chairman of IFAPA.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Roy said following the State Government's initiatives to attract investments in areas such as Bankura, Purulia and Midnapore, a few entrepreneurs from within and outside the State have set up new ventures there.

Encouraged by the announcement of concessional power tariff, four entrepreneurs set up power-intensive ferro alloy plants in the Bishnupur Industrial Growth Centre. The cumulative investment in these units has been pegged at Rs 200 crore and they together draw nearly 100 MW of power every month, helping the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) to generate additional revenue. The four units provide direct and indirect employment to around 15,000 people.

Mr Roy said the State Government had promised that these high-tension industrial consumers would be given a 40 per cent concession on the total energy charge for the first three years and a concession of 25 per cent, 20 per cent and 15 per cent on the total energy charge during the fourth, fifth and sixth year, respectively.

Industries in Bankura had an additional 2.5 per cent discount on the energy charges payable by them. Till now, the concession was incorporated in the tariff itself. However, in a recent order, the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission delinked the concession from the tariff and left the onus on the State Government to determine concessions and compensate WBSEB with the concession amount in advance, thereby enabling WBSEB to pass on the concessional tariff to its customers in the energy bill.

According to Mr Roy, though the scheme is workable, the fact remains that the ferro alloy units do not receive the concession and the production costs of ferro alloy have gone up by about Rs 5,000 per tonne"It is the discounts on power charges that encouraged these entrepreneurs to invest in West Bengal," Mr Roy said.