Industry for rollback of power tariff hike in UP

Expressing concern over 50 per cent rise in power tariff in Uttar Pradesh, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Wednesday demanded the rollback claiming it was hurting the margins of small and medium companies.

The hike in power tariff had led to a sharp rise in the cost of production for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector as they do not have wherewithal to set up captive turbine for power generation, Asoocham has communicated to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Industry is concerned that the hike would make goods manufactured in UP SMEs less competitive compared to their counterparts.

Meanwhile, Assocham will soon mount a high-level delegation to meet the chief minister and apprise him of the industry’s concerns.

“This is a substantial rise in power tariff, especially considering the track record of the UP government, which had hiked the tariff by five10 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during the last 10 years and might give a huge setback to the government’s efforts to woo investments,” Assocham national secretary-general D S Rawat said.

He said it would hurt small and medium enterprises in dairy, handloom and handicrafts segments.