Erratic power supply hits steel production

Margao: Nearly half a dozen steel units have been forced to shut production temporarily due to the erratic power supply in the state.
Members of steel industries association said the 21 steel plants in Goa have been badly hit for want of quality and sufficient power supply.
Sources in Cuncolim industrial estate, where 12 such factories are situated, said three have stopped production.The other units are in Kundaim industrial estate.
Affected industrial unit owners pointed out that production has been hit by erratic power and they are incurring losses of Rs 1 lakh a day.
“The problem has become increasingly acute in the last month when we received power for a maximum of two hours,” said a plant owner who has had to shut down his unit.
Puja Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd owner Pankaj Jain said, “First of all, the market is low as the demand for steel is poor. Just when we thought the situation would turn around we have power problems. We are facing a 25% drop in production due to power supply and another 25% drop due to poor market conditions.”
Another factory owner, Subash Chandra More, said they had communicated to the government that if the issues regarding power supply are not resolved then other units too could face closure.
Steel industry members said they had invested on their own for underground power cabling system hoping that their power woes would be solved, but it has not helped.
The assistant engineer at Xeldem power substation blamed technical issues at the Karnataka power feeder for the problem. He said that currently the state depends on power from Maharashtra and that they were hoping to fix the issues with the supply line from Karnataka in a week’s time.
The association has demanded that the government intervene and find a quick solution to the steel manufacturers’ problems.