Two ministers to look into issue of industrial power

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today directed two senior cabinet ministers to meet the industry representatives tomorrow for addressing their concerns over implementation of fixed power tariff of Rs five per unit.
In a meeting held here to discuss the industrial power tariff issue, the chief minister asked state Power Minister Rana Gurjit and Finance Minister Manpreet Badal to talk to the industry captains in an effort to resolve their issues over non-retrospective implementation of fixed tariff on power, along with various other matters relating to power rates.
An official spokesperson said after today's meeting the chief minister had taken serious note of the problems being faced by the industry, including the power tariff burden resulting from imposition of fixed tariff by the regulator.

Amarinder said at the meeting that he expects no further delay in the implementation of his promise for industrial power tariff being fixed at Rs five per unit.
The government was keen to make the new power structure a reality by January 1, 2018, the spokesperson said.
All the issues, including issue of the retrospective implementation of fixed tariff from April 1 as announced by Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), will be taken up tomorrow with the industry.

With a financial implication of Rs 600 crore, in its current form, the retrospective implementation of fixed tariff has been opposed by the industry, which wanted more time to correct their industrial loads.

The chief minister noted that while many of the industries in the state had managed to reduce their loads, the smaller (particularly the sick) units that ran for short durations only had been badly hit by the new two-part tariff structure.
These units had requested capping the rate, which the two ministers will discuss at their meeting tomorrow with the industry.
Asserting his commitment to provide electricity at variable cost of Rs 5 per unit to industry, as per the Congress manifesto promise, Amarinder said the government was planning to subsidise to an extent the difference resulting from the imposition of the fixed charge by the regulator.

The chief minister, according to the spokesperson, had also directed the concerned officials to take up the issue of co-generation and sick units with the regulator, so that the impact of the new two-part tariff scheme on them could be minimised.