The Hindu Business Line : Power-deficit Gujarat struggling to keep pump sets running

A SUDDEN spurt in power demand from the agriculture sector has caught Gujarat completely unawares, forcing the Government to impose a four-day week on industry. Interestingly, four months ago, when Maharashtra was reeling under a severe power crisis, the Gujarat Government had issued advertisements in Mumbai media inviting industry to set up shop in the State as it had "abundant power."

But from Sunday, the industry in the State has been told to remain shut on three days in a week. With the Monsoon weakening after an initial round of heavy rain in early July, crops in the State are severely moisture stressed and the need for irrigation has shot up.

The State Government has decided to force the industry in the State to remain closed for three days in a week - the weekly off day and two subsequent days. The cutback would also apply to industries falling under the privatised power zones.

"September has traditionally been a bad month for us. We had initiated steps to meet the possible spurt in demand three months ago and tied up for additional 600 MW power. But that is not flowing," a senior Government official told Business Line.

The Government says that the State's peak demand has shot up from 7,500 MW to 9,000 MW and the additional power is "only on paper". The State Government claims that it had tied up for an additional 500-600 MW power from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and other sources, but it is not getting that power as demand has risen in those States as well.

"We are adopting a multi-pronged approach, including asking National Thermal Power Corporation to run its Kawas (Surat) plant on naphtha. We will review the decision next week," the official said.

Almost all large industrial units in the State have captive power plants and are not so badly hit, but the small and medium-scale industry is not amused with the cutback.

"Just recently, they told us that we could run our factories seven days a week. Last week, they imposed a one-day cut. But the three-day cut has hit our production levels and we could fail on our deliveries," says Mr Ramesh Wadhwani, the Managing Director of Baroda-based capital goods maker Uunitop Engineers Ltd.

Agrees Mr Gaurav Nanavaty of Anup Industries Ltd, a packaging solutions company. "We are now faced with three-day forced closure. Instead of shutting off the feeders, it would be better if they reduce the power so that we could plan less energy intensive work on those days," Mr Nanavaty said.

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