CHENNAI: At least 40,000 industrial units in Tamil Nadu will stay shut on Monday to protest “exorbitant” electricity tariffs in the state.
The announcement from industry bodies came minutes after chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday announced that seasonal industries with low-tension electricity connections such as rice mills, ice factories, and spinning mills -- that run to their full potential only for a few months in a year -- will be allowed to change their connected load up to four times in a year free of cost. Now, these industries must pay to get the connected load changed.
Tangedco officials said the announcement will help reduce demand charges during the off-season. Consumers pay these fixed charges apart from the consumption charges based on the connected load. When the factories are not fully functional, they can reduce the load and fixed charges.
Stalin said these industries would be given a 15% subsidy to install rooftop solar power systems. Besides, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) would be consulted on changing the tariff category of micro industries to IIIA1 from IIIB.
However, representatives of micro, small, and medium enterprises said they were not satisfied with the announcements. Senthil Kumar of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers Association (TECA), one of the associations participating in the strike, said, almost all the industries are suffering due to the Ukraine war. “The electricity tariff hikes make it even harder for industries," he said.
The introduction of peak hour charges and the steep hike of demand charges almost killed the MSME industries, said K E Ragunathan, president of the Association of Indian Entrepreneurs. "CM never addressed these," he said. Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association's (TASMA) state advisor K Venkatachalam said rationalising the fixed, open access charges will help high-tension consumers.
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