UP industry groping in 'darkness'

Power Corporation cuts supply during night.

Industry in Uttar Pradesh is groping in ‘darkness’ following the recent Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) order, which stopped power supply to industrial consumers in the state between 10 pm and 6 am.

The September 5 order followed substantial increase in power demand from the state leading to a demand-supply gap of almost 2,000 Megawatt (Mw).

However, the order has only worsened the situation for the industry in UP, especially the process industry, already facing the frugal power set-up.

“This order will lead to idle capacity in the process industry, which functions round-the-clock, such as sugar, textile, jute and leather, and add to the cost of production,” Assocham Secretary General S B Agarwal told Business Standard.

Ghaziabad, which has a large number of ferrous and non-ferrous metal industrial units, will be most affected by the ‘blackout’.

Agarwal hoped that the UPPCL will reach an agreement with the Central Grid in the next fortnight or so and the Corporation will reverse its order.

“At a time, when industries are fleeing from UP due to bleak power situation, the order will only serve as another nail to its coffin,” he said.

The power availability in the grid took a severe beating of late due to rising power demand. The UPPCL is importing power at the rate of Rs 8-10 per unit, however, the demand has not softened and the corporation resorted to the order to maintain grid discipline.

Indian Industries Association (IIA) Executive Director D S Verma opined that the industrial scene was already bad in UP and now the situation will worsen.

“If the industry will not function in the night, it will add to production and labour costs. The units may not be able to fulfill their business commitments and lose valuable customers to other states,” he warned.

Verma suggested that there should be a contingency plan in place by the state government, if such orders are executed.

“The state government may provide diesel at subsidised rates to the industry to cope with such power crisis...however, this possibility is remote,” he added.

IIA Ghaziabad chaper secretary Neeraj Singhal expressed apprehension that this may not only impinge production, but lead to theft of costly raw material such as aluminum and copper from the factory premises during the night.

The state government has failed to enhance its generation capacity in the last five years to cope with increasing demand. Lack of infrastructure, mainly power, has resulted in the closure of a large number of units in the industrial hub of Kanpur over the decades.

Besides, several units have migrated to other power rich states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, which are offering other incentives and sops to attract industry.

The total generation capacity of the hydro and thermal power units in UP is about 2,500 Mw, while almost 3,000 Mw is imported from central sector, which is much below the peak hour demand in the state. The peak hour demand hovers at 7,000-7,500 Mw.