Following requests by the industry and the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (Fapcci), Distribution Companies (Discoms) in Andhra Pradesh have agreed to withdraw power cuts during 6.30 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. every day with immediate effect and bring down power holiday to one day a week from two days earlier.

According to a statement from Fapcci, the Discoms have agreed to bring down peak hour power cuts for industrial development areas in and around Hyderabad. This follows a representation to the State Government by the Federation.

A Fapcci delegation headed by Mr V.S. Raju, President, Mr Srirama Murthy, Chairman, Industrial Development Committee, and others made a representation expressing concerns about power cuts and its adverse impact on industrial production and consequent financial implications. The issue of medium, small and micro enterprises was taken up as they find the going tough during power cuts leading to loss of production and slippages of contracts.

They also face the problem of defaulting loan instalments to banks if the productivity is affected. They impressed upon the Government that industries were incurring huge losses due to loss of production and customer dissatisfaction.

The delegation members also said that some of the large and medium industries cannot function with 70 per cent power limit. Some of them are continuous process industries, which require not only full quota of power to operate but also cannot withstand intermittent power cuts and hence there was a need to consider their difficulties.

This relief was assured with immediate effect till February end. During March and April, the demand–supply position will be reviewed and appropriate reliefs may be given, the delegation was assured.

>vrishi@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics