CII opposes move to restrict power supply to industries

The Confederation of Indian Industry has termed the State government's decision to impose 20 per cent cut in power supply to industrial units as “irrational and unfavourable.”

The government has agreed to the KSEB proposal to impose 20 per cent cut on High Tension and Extra High Tension consumers.

There is widespread demand for revoking this proposal as this will deal a severe blow to many of the industries already reeling under high tariff and unfavourable business environment, CII said in a statement here.

The Chamber appealed to the State government not to enforce the proposal until alternative measures are worked out to tackle power shortage in the State.

Mr V.K. Mathews, chairman, CII Kerala, and executive chairman of the IBS group, said power cut would hamper industrial growth and expansion plans in the State.

He said that with the upcoming ‘Emerging Kerala 2012' meet, which has been projected to attract investments to the State, such decisions would send a wrong signal to potential investors. He also urged KSEB to develop strategies and tactics to manage available power resources in a more efficient manner.

Industrialists are of the opinion that the current level of power shortage is manageable without resorting to power cuts.

Mr Umang Patodia, chairman, Taskforce on Power, CII Kerala, and managing director, Patspin India Ltd, said, “Higher energy and demand requirement during March is usual. The daily energy consumption which crossed 63 million units during the SSLC and Plus 2 exam period has gone down considerably to 58 million units.”

This is also because of heavy showers in various parts of the State in the past few days. Power consumption is likely to come down further.

The Industry also pointed to the additional availability from April 1 following the allocation of 50 MW from the Central pool at the instance of the Union Minister of State for Power, Mr K.C. Venugopal.

CII believes that with some financial support from the State government, KSEB would be able to tide over the present crisis by drawing power from underutilised power stations. According to CII, the burden on the medium and large industrial units from the proposed power restriction will be between Rs 1-3 crore a month.