Drop hike in power charges: MSMEs

CHENNAI: K Baskaran, who runs a fabrication unit at Kakkalur in Tiruvallur district, with a connected load of 34 kilowatt (kW) saw his fixed charges go up by 130 per cent after the steep increase in the electricity tariff in September last year.

“The energy charge for the Low Tension industry tariff is increased by 20 per cent from Rs 6.35 per unit to Rs 7.65 per unit. We are not opposed to the increase in the energy charges as it was done after eight years, but the hidden fixed charges,” Bhaskaran, who is also the secretary of the Kakkalur Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association, said.

The steep increase in the fixed charges and the introduction of the time-of-the-day tariff (peak hour charges and non-peak hour incentives) by Tangedco in September 2022 has made the units uncompetitive and unviable.

Before the tariff revision on September 10, 2022, the fixed charge for the LT industry was Rs 35 per kW per month, he said. “After the hike, the fixed charges for the connected load up to 50 kW was increased to Rs 70 per kW, 51-112 kW is Rs 150 per kW and above 112 kW (for LTCT connections) is Rs 550 per kW, he said.

K Chandra Kumar, president of Small Engineering Industries Welfare Association, said that many of the tiny industries are run on a small space with three to four units sharing one electricity connection. “I myself run one such engineering unit in Ekkaduthangal. We are now facing issues over sharing the electricity bills with other units after the introduction of the peak hour charges. As the Tangedco is charging peak hour tariff for eight hours in a day without fixing an appropriate meter, we are being forced to pay the charges for the duration when the electricity was not even used,” he said.

Vasu Devan, vice president of TANSTIA said that Tamil Nadu was once famous for the engineering products, but now the units were not able to compete within the country let alone exports. “The increase in the electricity charges has led to an increase in the cost of production which is affecting our competitiveness with manufacturers from states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. It is an indirect loss to the government,” he said.

K Maniraj, president of Kovai Power Driven Pumps and Spares’ Manufacturers (KOPMA) said that MSMEs should not be made to suffer for the huge debt of Rs 1.5 lakh crore incurred by Tangedco due to management failure and corruption. “Why should people and industries suffer the steep hike in tariff for the corruption in Tangedco?” he asked.

J James, one of the coordinators of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Electricity Consumers Federation, an umbrella organisation of over 250 industrial bodies in the state, said that over nine lakh manufacturing units in the state would remain shut for a day on Monday seeking a reduction of fixed charges, scrapping of peak hour charges, cancellation of network charges on rooftop solar generation and no tariff revision for next two years.

“Due to the protest, over 60 lakh people will go jobless. The state will incur a revenue loss of Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,600 crore while the manufacturing units will suffer a production loss of Rs 9,000 crore,” he added.

James said that they were forced to protest as the government remained indifferent to their demands.

“If the government fails to address their issues, we will announce a series of continuous protests at Madurai where a hunger strike will be held on Monday,” he said.