Power outage: Bizmen suffering Rs 500 cr loss per day
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 6
The decision of the state government to extend the power shutdown for large-scale industries for three more days has come as a rude shock for the industrialists of the region.
Members of the Focal Point Extension Association on Tuesday wrote to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and MLA Jalandhar North Bawa Henry apprising him of the huge losses due to power outages in industry.
As the power situation continues to remain grim in Punjab, large-scale industries have been asked to shut down operations for another three days till July 10. The orders for extending the power restrictions on large-scale industries, using over 100 KW of load, in Central, North and West zones were issued by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) late Monday night. The power shutdown in the industry had already been imposed for the past three days.
President of the association Narinder Sagoo, said, “Industry and trade of Punjab is going through very tough times from a very long time. This is very crucial time for the survival of the industry. In this crucial time which was to be used for survival, power cuts are creating panic in the Industry.”
He added, “Industry needs power to be able to manufacture and give employment to workers and daily wage earners. Also industry has to supply their products as per their contracts and any delay would incur penalties. Even in the absence of power, industry needs to pay all their expenses for manufacturing. But due to power cuts, the Industry overall had to bear loss of more than Rs 500 crores per day. All this would impact the revenue model of Punjab also.”
He has further mentioned, “As per the data, power is abundantly available in the neighbouring states. The government needs to urgently consider getting electricity from them to provide electricity to the industry for its survival. Also, small industries have electricity connection of less than or equal to 500 KVA should be allowed to run at every expense for survival in this tough environment.”
