Jat agitation hits Haryana industry

The industry in Haryana is in a tight spot due to the agitation by Jat protesters demanding reservations in Central government jobs.

The short supply of coal to the thermal power plants in Haryana has gravely affected power availability in the state.

Panipat Exporters Association President Prem Vij said, in the past three days the duration of power cut has been doubled. “We used to have a power cut of two to three hours a day that has now been stretched to five to six hours a day. The cost of captive power is three times the power drawn from the state electricity board. This has pushed up our expenditure”.

Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) Managing Director Sanjiv Kaushal said the state has been drawing 1,200 Mw per day against 500-600 Mw of usual requirement to ensure power availability. It has been costing Rs 10 crore a day of the generation loss besides the zooming fixed costs. There is mandays loss to many manufacturing companies as the disruption of trains having affected the commuters.

Ashwani Goel of Scientific Instruments Manufacturers Association Ambala said the large number of people commute everyday to work in factories in Ambala from nearby towns. The delay in the trains has resulted in mandays loss for them.

The officials in the Northern Railways confirmed there has been a massive impact on the railway movement and over 100 trains have been either diverted, suspended or cancelled. The exporters from Ludhiana are also affected due to railway movements. The Managing Director of Cremica Foods said their exports have been impacted due to uncertainty of railway movement. The tractor manufacturers in the region are keeping their fingers crossed as they cannot hold their stocks for long.

Although Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Jat leaders on Thursday to desist from disrupting rail movement but Jat leader Yashpal Malik told Business Standard, he did not get any directive and would decide on the course of action after receiving the same.