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BUSINESS_STANDARDHard times for UttaraKhand Steel industries
The Kumoan-based Kashi Vishwanath Steels Ltd is currently running on a single shift, courtesy acute power shortage in Uttarakhand.
"We have reduced our labour force by almost 50 to 60 per cent as we are unable to run all the three shifts at our steel factory," said executive director of the company Yash Vardhan. Vardhan also claimed that the production at his factory had been hit hard ever since the power scenario became bleak during the past one month.
And Kashi Vishwanath is not the only factory facing bad times. The 60-odd steel industries, mostly SMEs in the hill state, are now facing a production loss of Rs 30 crore everyday due to the 16-hour power cut resorted to by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the government-run sole distribution company in the hill state.
The owners of the steel industry also met top government officials and submitted a memorandum demanding more power to the industrial units. In the memorandum, president of the steel chapter of the Kumaon-Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) D K Agarwal said the steel industry, which took only 16.5 per cent of the HT load, was getting only 8 hours per day, whereas the other HT industries were getting 16 hours power.
"Our steel industry is catering to the infrastructure needs of the country by supplying goods to sectors like power, Delhi metro, automobile, sugar, paper and others. Hence, we must get sufficient power to run our industries. Otherwise, these units will close down if the trend continues," said Agarwal.
Most of the top companies, which have set up units in the state, have also reported 15 to 20 per cent production loss owing to the power shortage, the industry sources said.
The power scenario in Uttarakhand is getting worse owing to the growing demand and falling generation.
With over 100-150 industries coming into production during the past three months, the power demand from the industrial sector has grown by another 20-30 per cent this year putting extra burden on the UPCL. "The government must support the existing industries and fulfil their various demands like sufficient power supply," said president of the Industries’ Association of Uttarakhand (IAU) Pankaj Gupta.
With power tariffs also going up from April 1, there had been stinging criticism of the state government in the wake of acute power shortage that has also hit the industries.
Concerned over the growing power shortage, the state government has sought from the Centre an additional 250 Mw additional power to resolve the power crisis.
UPCL is currently facing acute power shortage after the steep fall in the power generation of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL). The power generation of UJVNL fell to 7-8 million units, which is the lowest this season owing to falling discharge in major rivers in the wake of prolonged dryspell.
The power demand in the state has reached 26 to 27 million units per day this season mainly due to heavy industrialisation The total availability of power from UJVNL and other shares like central pool stands at 18 to 19 million units. In addition this, the UPCL is also resorting to power banking. With the return of the banked power, the demand supply gap has increased to 10 to 11 million units per day for which UPCL is forced to overdraw power and resort to rostering.
http://sify.com/finance/hard-times-for-uttarakhand-steel-industries-news-news-ke1bkFchaib.html
