Industry associations in the city, reacting to the announcement of power cuts, have said that the same will retard industrial production and severely affect GDP growth in the State.
N Jegatheesan, President of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a statement here that the imposition of 20 per cent power cut for HT industrial consumers by Tangedco and permitting industrial consumers to use only 10 per cent of the demand and energy quota fixed during peak hours would severely affect the industrial sector.
The small scale sector is apprehensive that the present power cut, if extended to LT Industries in due course, would restrict their efforts to keep up their production level and provide continuous employment.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has proposed to hike power tariff ranging from 15 to 31 percent for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. If implemented, the power bill for industries will shoot up by about 30 percent, correspondingly increasing their cost of production, Jegatheesan further said.
He urged that Chief Minister should immediately put on hold both the decision of Tangedco to enforce power cuts for high tension consumers and the proposal of TNERC for power tariff hike.
VS Manimaran, President of Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association, in a statement said that the move by Tangedco and the proposal by TNERC, if implemented, would affect the small scale sector adversely.
Due to a favourable power position in the last few months, the sector has secured more orders in anticipation of celebration of festivals and all efforts would come to a naught, affecting repayment of loans to banks. It would further have a cascading effect on prices of goods.