Industry protests power tariff hike

“It would not only prevent new industries from coming to the state but may also lead to closure of the existing ones,” he said.

Questioning the circumstances under which the hike was announced,Chaturvedi said,“It seems that UPERC was pressurised by UPPCL.”

Terming the circumstances “suspicious”,S S Awasthi,representing UP Chamber of Steel Industries,said the government should conduct an inquiry into the announcement itself,“which would bring out the real motives of the power corporation.”

“Such a decision only implies that the state’s industrial policy is nothing but vote bank politics. Our cost of production is already high as we import raw material from other states. This increase in tariff will be extremely bad for industry,” warned Prashant Bhatia,chairman of IIA,Lucknow chapter.

Stating that the JAC is firm on its demand,Avdhesh Kumar Verma,vice-president of JAC and president of the UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad,said that if there is no rollback of the hike,JAC may also take a legal course and was ready to take the fight to the high court.

“We are the most efficient consumers,yet we are being targeted,” said Mukesh Tandon of the UP Bread Manufacturers Association. “And since UPPCL has a monopoly over electricity,we have no other alternative for power,” added Rakesh Goel,representing Energy Associates. In such a scenario,he said that competition in the power sector should be introduced and the 2003 Electricity Act,which calls for such competition,be implemented.

Another common refrain at the conference was the inefficiency of the power sector. “On the one hand,the power sector has losses of about Rs 24,000 crore and,on the other,about Rs 26,094 crore is due from various consumers of electricity. If the corporation is serious,it should collect these dues. Moreover,it should be noted that Rs 7,000-8,000 crore is pending from government departments,” said Chaturvedi.

“A further 10 per cent losses could be cut if the power sector mandates the metering of electricity supplied,as stated in the Electricity Act 2003,” said Rakesh Goel.

The JAC plans to stage a protest on October 26 in the state capital and then hand over a memorandum to the chief minister.