The Southern India Mills Association has appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission for immediate rollback of the cross subsidy surcharge for HT (high tension) consumers.

The power-intensive textile industry is in a fix over the steep increase in the cross subsidy surcharge at Rs 3.40 and Rs 3.61 a unit (depending upon the voltage) from Rs 1.66 and Rs 2.07 a unit at present.

The sharp increase would sound death knell for the HT consumers in the State, SIMA Chairman S. Dinakaran said. The industry is already facing flight of capital and investment with other States such as Gujarat and Maharashtra coming up with industry-friendly textile policies.

Grid supply

Further, the grid supply was low in the State, ranging between 35 per cent and 45 per cent depending upon the wind energy. HT consumers were subjected to 40 per cent power cut and peak hour restrictions even during peak wind season.

“In this uncompetitive power scenario, it would be impossible for the power-intensive units to operate here,” he said, adding “though the Madras High Court has stayed the levy of cross subsidy surcharge, it has stated that the HT consumers will have to pay it with 9 per cent interest should the final verdict go in favour of TANGEDCO (TN Generation and Distribution Corporation)”.

While pleading for a rollback of the levy, Dinakaran hailed the TNERC order with regard to reduction of wheeling charges from 23.27 paise to 17.35 paise a unit and in respect of wind energy from 9.31 paise to 6.94 paise a unit.

Separate tariff

The association has demanded a separate tariff for the textile industry considering the high load factor the industry maintained all through the year.

The industry association has appealed to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to announce an industry-friendly energy policy.

Related Topics