Ferro-alloy units a power-intensive industry numbering 30, are in dire straits due to the prevailing power crisis in the State. To make matters worse, prices of ferro-alloy products have also suffered a slump in recent times, making survival very difficult for the units. Facor, the biggest ferro-alloys unit in Vizianagaram district and one of the biggest and oldest in the State, is presently able to produce only 3,000 tonnes per day, half of its capacity, due to the power problem.
“We are being supplied only 30 per cent of the contracted load of 35 MVA during the peak hours (from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m) and only 53 per cent of the load during the rest of the period. Of the five furnaces, only three we are able to operate and two are idle. We have not laid off the workers but the cost of production per tonne has jumped up as a result, as we are paying for the idle workforce too. We are told the situation will continue for a long time,” said L. Narayana Murthy, Deputy General Manager (Personnel) of Facor.
He said the Andhra Pradesh Electrictiy Regulatory Commission had also resorted to levying of fuel adjustment surcharge for the past four years and Facor had been served a notice to pay Rs 60 crore, of which Rs 8 crore should be paid this month itself.
"M.R Prasad, Secretary of the AP Ferro-Alloys Units' Association, said three or four major units had already stopped operations and most of the smaller units were facing a huge problem. He appealed to the Government and the APERC to rescue the industry.