CII, BBN industries back steel body against power tariff hike

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Himachal Pradesh, and the Baddi-Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) have lent support to the Himachal Steel Industries Association’s cause of increased power tariff.

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A delegation of the CII, led by its chairman Navesh Narula and vice-chairman Deepan Garg today sought the intervention of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh in the issue of rising electricity tariffs and the additional cess that was adversely hitting business in the state.

Narula said that the discontinuation of electricity subsidies had significantly impacted industries, eroding one of the state’s key competitive advantages. “Affordable electricity was the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of Himachal Pradesh, which attracted industries to the region. However, with the recent tariff hikes, this advantage no longer exists,” he stated.

Garg pointed out that “Himachal Pradesh is no longer cost-effective in terms of electricity rates compared to its neighbouring states, which can lead to businesses reconsidering their investments in the region.”

The Chief Minister assured the delegation that corrective measures would be taken. He expressed the government’s commitment to supporting the industrial sector and assured that a revision in electricity tariffs would be considered at the earliest.

Rajiv Aggarwal, president BBNIA, observed that in the last two years the government has withdrawn power subsidy while enhancing electricity duty and also imposing 10 paise milk cess, 2.10 paise environment cess on power consumption. This has levied a 50 per cent added monetary burden on the industry which is the highest in the history of the power board. “This exponential power hike has become a disadvantage for the industry to invest in the state”

“Power is the basic input of every industry, which contributes as much as 50 per cent to the production cost of power intensive sectors like steel, textile, etc. This undue hike will hit employment generation besides state’s revenue and we urge the government to roll back this hike,” stressed Aggarwal.

Notably, steel association has decided not to pay their power bills amounting to crores and also close their factories from February 25 if the hiked tariff is not rolled back.