MSMEs to go on strike on Sept 25 despite CM's sop for the industry

CHENNAI: Two days ahead of the token strike announced by the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector to protest the steep hike in electricity tariff, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday announced a 15 per cent capital subsidy for MSMEs to set up rooftop solar plants and permit industries with up to 12-kilowatt load to be charged under lower tariff category.

Stalin also issued orders to modify the electricity load based on the seasonal demand of low-tension industries aimed at benefitting the MSME units.

However, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Electricity Consumers’ Federation that had called for the protest has decided to go ahead with the strike on September 25 as announced, stating that its main demands remain unfulfilled.

According to the order, the low-tension consumers (Tariff III-B) have been allowed to modify the electrical load based on the demand and there would be no charge to avail the service. “Industrial consumers are allowed to utilise the scheme four times a year,” added the statement from the government.

As the LT industrial consumers are levied fixed charges based on their connected load, the seasonal industries, mainly agriculture-based industries like rice mills, that function for a few months in a year were forced to pay the demand charges even when they are not operating.

If allowed to reduce the connected load based on seasonal demand, such industries would pay only for their demand.

The government has also decided to seek the opinion of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission to revise the tariff for the small and medium enterprises, which consume less than 12 KW, from III-B to III-A1. It also recalled an announcement made in 2022 on reducing peak hour electricity charges for MSME units to 15 per cent from the earlier 25 per cent.

Stalin urged the department officials to take necessary measures based on the requests put forth by the industry and textile sectors.

However, K Mariappan, president, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), said the protest would be held as planned, as their demands are not fulfilled. "We demanded a rollback of 430 per cent increase in the fixed charges for the LT industries from Rs 35 per kilowatt to Rs 562 per kW for above 112 kW load. We also sought scrapping of the peak hour charges completely. Our demands to cancel the network charges on the solar generation and no tariff hike for the next two years were also not met," he said.

KE Raghunathan, national president of the Association of Indian Entrepreneurs, said the government's announcement failed to address the demand of the MSME industries.