Industrial units, already hit by a power crunch, are facing more trouble with distribution utilities of a number States adopting protectionist measures.

Apart from directives forcing certain units to down shutters during specified days, industrial units are being levied stiff surcharge payments every time they buy power from outside their State to tide over supply disruptions.

Madhya Pradesh, for instance, has proposed a big increase in cross subsidy surcharge from 28 paise per unit (kWh) currently to around Rs 1.50, according to draft regulation issued by the State power regulator.

Punjab has put in place physical restrictions for certain energy-intensive industries that have to down shutters half the week.

Both Punjab and Haryana already levy prohibitive cross subsidy charges if a unit buys power from outside the States. As a result, despite the inability of the utility to ensure round-the clock electricity supplies to industry, units either have to rely on expensive power from diesel generators or shut shop; they do not have the option of buying power from the spot market.

This is despite the open-access provision — a key reform measure ushered in by the Electricity Act, 2003 — that allows consumers, starting with large industrial units, to buy power from a utility of their choice, either from inside or outside their State.

The cross subsidy surcharge in Punjab currently is 74 paisa/unit for the current fiscal and in Haryana it is 58 paisa/unit. This is over and above the heavy wheeling and transmission charges in both States — a steep 46 paisa/unit and 72 paisa/unit respectively.

“The levy of cross subsidy is not justified when the utility is not able to supply electricity to the consumer,” an executive with Vardhman Textiles said. Open-access consumers from the State, including Nahar Spinning, Vardhman Textiles, Punjab Alkalis and Chemicals, Hero Cycles and Modern Steels Ltd, are left in the lurch.

Frequent changes in the weekly off policy and peak load restriction announced by the power utilities have also irked the industry.

In Punjab, during the past month, at least four notifications imposing or removing the weekly off days have been received by industrial units; this impacts the daily planning of operations at the factories.

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