As Telangana simmers, Andhra industry at standstill

The ongoing 16-day long general strike demanding statehood to Telangana region has started hurting industrial activity in Andhra Pradesh.

Being at the centre of action, several units located in and around Hyderabad are being affected. While the IT and ITeS units are the immediate victims of the protests, the manufacturing units, too, are suffering disruptions in production.

With a series of shutdowns, roadblocks, flash protests and sporadic street fights, the industrial units have not been able to plan the production schedules, affecting dispatches.

Also, the state is already on the edge of a major power crisis with the coal production at Singareni Collieries coming to a halt.

All the miners at the collieries are participating in the strike and the supplies to various power units have completely stopped. Though the state government is exploring all options to bring in coal from neighbouring states such as Orissa, power cuts have become imminent. While Hyderabad city is expected to have two-hour power cut, industrial units are witnessing power disruption for about four hours.

“There is a definite impact of the general strike. Power cuts are emerging to be a major problem. Transportation of employees too is having an impact on the availability of manpower,” Venkat Jasti, CMD of Suven Life Sciences, said.

About 10,000 buses have gone off the roads in Hyderabad. “The semi-skilled and unskilled are not finding any means of reaching the factories. Though some private transport is available, it is costing them about Rs100 a day, which is definitely exorbitant by their standard of wages,” a senior functionary of a US FDA-approved pharma unit said.

IT companies are also among the worst affected. “We are using generators continuously for about six hours. It is definitely having a major impact on the cost. Additionally, we are not able to ensure safety of our employees,” a centre head of a financial data processing MNC said. While several industry  bodies assess the loss to be about Rs1,500 crore, an entrepreneur associated with CII said, “The loss would be upwards of Rs3,000 crore if you look at manufacturing and trade disruption.”