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The power tariff hike by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has come under attack from both industry and individual consumers.
Industrial associations and TECA (Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers’ Association) have voiced their protest at the 15 per cent increase, and called for a rollback.
Coming as it does at a time when industries are struggling to survive, this was the last straw on the camel’s back, industry sources said. At least 20 per cent of the micro industries in the Coimbatore region have closed shop in the last four years, they said. “Coimbatore had close to 20000 SMEs [small and medium enterprises] in the manufacturing space alone. Over 20 per cent of these have perished. Getting licences and approvals were never easy, and this electricity tariff hike is the last nail in the coffin,” CII Chairman, Coimbatore zone, K Ilango told BusinessLine .
“While TNERC claims the increase is only 15 per cent, the effective charges will be much higher because of power cuts. TNERC has ignored directions of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity(APTEL), New Delhi on tariffs. We have therefore decided to appeal to APTEL,” said the President of Indian Institute of Foundrymen, Coimbatore Chapter, Jayakumar Ramdas.
The Planters’ Association of Tamil Nadu (PAT) warned that hike was another blow to plantations and tea factories having HT connections. “As it is, producers are incurring huge losses on teas sold at public auctions. The average loss is Rs 4 per kg of tea. Thisincrease will only push up the losses,” said V Suresh Menon, Chairman, PAT.
He said the industry’s plea for a concessional “agro industrial” HT tariff classification had been left unaddressed. This has placed tea factories, which are engaged in processing an agricultural commodity (green leaf) on par with energy intensive industries such as steel. “This anomaly has to be removed. Only then will tea producers get some respite from the rising power cost,” he said.
The Southern India Mills’ Association Chairman T Rajkumar has appealed for exemption of the textile industry from such a hike. “The hike in energy and demand charges would mean an additional cost burden of ₹1 cr to ₹1.5 cr for a mill with 25000 spindles. The mill sector deserves concessions as it is the single largest consumer of power in the State,” he said.
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