The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission had announced new power tariff that would be effective from April 1. The department of energy issued the notification accordingly, slashing the power tariff for the mini steel plant by Rs 1.40 per unit.
“The cut in power tariff would be a big relief for the industry in Chhattisgarh as the industrialists could now stand in competition with the neighbouring states,” Ashok Surana, former president of Chhattisgarh Mini Steel Plant association said. The power tariff for the industry in the state would be best in the country, he added.
The steel plants would now pay Rs 4.60 per unit. Following Maharashtra government's package for the industry in Vidarbha, the steel industry in Chhattisgarh was struggling because of higher cost production and low demand. The industry in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were also in a comfortable position. The industrialists in Chhattisgarh were finding it hard to compete at the national level.
Chhattisgarh is a producing state as the consumption within the state is only 10 per cent of the total steel produced. The units had to depend on the other states. The state has 150 mini steel plants producing 3,50,000 tonnes of steel per annum. The 185 rolling mills also have the same capacity.
The units have been consuming 450 MW of power per day that comes to be about 15 per cent of state’s installed capacity. With the slash in the tariff, the power consumption was also likely to increase as the state was having surplus power.
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