Gagret industrialists resent withdrawal of power subsidy
The Gagret Subdivisional Industrialists Association yesterday held a meeting to discuss the implications of the state government’s decision of ending subsidy on electricity consumption to industrial units.
Association president Pramod Sharma told the media that the decision would adversely affect the industrial units here that were already in a difficult situation.
He said during the past two years, power tariff had increased two times and now the government had done away with the subsidy. Sharma said a major steel industry in Gwalthai Industrial Area in Bilaspur, near the border of Una district, had closed operations due to hike in power tariff, leaving 2,000 people jobless.
He said the hike in power tariff and doing away with the subsidy would have many ramifications, including increase in cost of production and labour layoffs, besides contributing to the eroding industrial infrastructure here.
Association general secretary Suresh Sharma said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had claimed that per unit power tariff in Himachal Pradesh was Re 1 less compared to the neighbouring states, but the fact was that the power tariff in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana was lower than Himachal. He said new entrepreneurs or industrial houses were reluctant to set up their units in the state and the increased power tariff would be another deterrent for them.
Suresh Sharma said the association members recently met Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and apprised him of the concerns of the industrialists. He said they had demanded that the power subsidy to the industrial units should continue, failing which industrialists will be forced to start shifting their units out of the state.
Other members of the Gagret industrialists association were also present on the occasion.
