‘Staggered weekly-offs are ok, but ensure uninterrupted supply at least 8 hours a day’
As the state government announced the schedule for load-shedding across the state sparing Bangalore city, the industrial sector fears the worst.
Energy minister Shobha Karandlaje has already dropped hints of introducing staggered weekly-offs for industries to minimise the effect of power crunch that has hit the state.
Realising the inevitable, the industrialists are ready to co-operate but conditions apply.
“We are always ready to co-operate with the government whenever the state is facing a problem. We have done it in the past and are ready for it even now to accept introduction of staggered weekly-off system. But that is just one part of the problem at hand,” said Prakash N Raikar, president of Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association.
“But the state government should assure the industrial sector that it would ensure steady supply of power for at least eight hours during the day on all the six remaining days of the week to ensure that industrial production is not affected,” said Raikar.
JR Bangera, president of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI), stated that the industrial bodies have a wishlist that they will present to the energy minister on Tuesday before they agree to the proposal of staggered weekly-off system.
“We can understand the problem being faced by the state. The system is a common feature in industrial areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and a few more states. But that is to ensure that they get steady uninterrupted power a certain number of hours,” he said.
“We too will present a similar demand before the government before agreeing for staggered weekly-offs. It will be a big blow for industries if the state government fails to provide steady power on the remaining six days of the week,” said Bangera, expressing fears of a double blow.
Bangera wants the state government to give sales tax subsidy on diesel being purchased by the industrial sector for running their captive generator sets.
“Such a gesture will reduce the dependence of industries on power from state grid and put their captive generation capacity to optimum use without escalating the production cost of the products,” he said.
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