Power crisis, ban on gensets deal double blow to Rohtak industry

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, June 6

Industrialists of Rohtak face a double whammy. They are not getting uninterrupted electricity supply for running their units and they are not allowed to use generators.

As per sources in the industry, the power crisis worsens in summers, leading to long power outages as well as unscheduled cuts.

To make the matter worse, a ban has been imposed on the use of generator sets by the industrial units in the National Capital Region (NCR) since October 31, 2023.

“The industry is suffering huge losses due to erratic supply of electricity, coupled with the ban on the use of generators. The situation has worsened in the past one month,” laments Surender Sanewal, president, Rohtak IDC Industries Association.

The association has urged the government to lift the ban on the use of generator sets by the industrial units in the larger interest of the industrialists.

“The owners of industrial units have spent crores on purchasing generator sets so that their units can function during power outages. However, they cannot run their units despite having generators due to the ban on their use,” rues SK Khator, the chairman of the association.

He complained that expensive equipment installed at the industrial units got damaged due to the sudden tripping of power without any prior notice or schedule.

“The government claims to facilitate the industry, but it has failed to provide even the basic facilities like regular power supply to the existing units,” said Khator and Sanewal.

The industry captains point out that as per the Electricity (Rights of Consumer) Rules promulgated by the Union Ministry of Power on December 31, 2020, 24X7 power supply is a right of the consumers and if a distribution company resorts to willful load-shedding, then the consumers have the right to claim compensation from it.

“However, the said rules notwithstanding, the UHBVN authorities have imposed load-shedding for four hours at the IDC in a communique dated June 3,” states the industrial association president.

The association observes that the government imposes power cuts on the industry citing high demand of electricity during the summers every year, but does not take any effective steps to increase the production of electricity.

“No new power-generation units have been established in the entire state in the past several years,” said the industrialists, questioning how the authorities concerned planned to overcome the power crisis without increasing its production.

Expensive generators of no use

Owners of industrial units have spent crores on purchasing generator sets so that their units can function during power outages. However, they cannot run their units despite having generators due to the ban on their use. — SK Khator, chairman, Rohtak IDC Industries Association