PHD Chamber resents power tariff hike, unscheduled cuts
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, April 27
A delegation of the Uttarakhand Chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) led by its Chairman SP Kochhar met Uttarakhand Principal Secretary, Energy, Dr Umakant Panwar, and the MD, UPCL, SS Yadav, and gave a representation regarding redress of pending issues related to power supply to the industry.
The delegation included Anil Taneja, Regional Director, PHDCCI, and executive committee members Sunil Gulati of Ellbee Hospitality, Surendra Singh, Regional Head, M/S Linde India Ltd., Vijay Chitturi, Unit Head, HNGIL, and Rakesh Bhatia, president, UIWA. Unscheduled tripping is the most concerning issue of the industry, said Taneja. The MD, UPCL, immediately ordered the installation of a 220 KV substation in the Selaqui industrial area that was approved long ago. He gave instructions the staff concerning for necessary action and get allotted the land earmarked for the substation.
Besides, Yadav took some immediate measures on the issue of connectivity. The members of the chapter felt that the recent power tariff hike and doubling of power duty clubbed with green cess in the already stringent regulations that the industry has to follow at a cost was unprecedented. Distribution companies (DISCOM) had been demanding and proposing an exorbitant tariff hike in the past and which the Power regulatory Commission had turned down earlier. Still the UPCL insisted on recouping revenue gaps arising out of inefficiencies on production and line losses. It is worthwhile to note that fixed charges are also not kept untouched.
The delegation argued that the impact of the recent power tariff hike for the industry was exorbitant as the minimum demand load tariff had increased form Rs 290 per Kvh to Rs 320 per Kvh (10.34 per cent Increase).
According to the administration and the UPCL, the power tariff hike was inevitable because of the overall increase in cost of procurement, production and distribution. The additional cost of duty and green cess are not in the preview of the UPCL. Panwar said though the duty hike was done after 14 years, still a representation to the regulator would be made to consider a gradual increase in duty or defer its collection to three years.
He said the UPCL was investing in new technologies to increase efficiency and there was inflation factor due to which there were cost implications. The chamber expressed that the high value Industry consumers should be given priority services, to which the principal secretary assured to have dedicated team for top 50 high value consumers.
The chamber proposed for conducting a technical audit of all 33 KV and 132 KV substations so as to make their operations interruption free. Numerous breakdowns occur in these substations leading to several hours of power cut in the industry. The industry does not get prior information about planned shutdowns. This causes damage to sensitive electronic equipment and losses to the process-driven plants.
