Rural entrepreneurs in Amravati want separate feeder

AMRAVATI: Pained by the long load-shedding schedule the rural industrialists of Amravati have demanded an express or separate feeder line. At present the small scale industries which are not in MIDC area are facing 6-8 hours daily load-shedding while industries in MIDC zone face only 7-8 hours load-shedding in a week. Many such industries, mostly agro-based units, are facing losses and wish to shut down their ventures if the power cuts are not reduced drastically.
Owner of Murtizapur-based RR Industries Kailash Agrawal said, "I have all my units based on agro products. There are around 20 small agro-based industries in the area which are not under MIDC. Due to long load-shedding, the production cost has increased by 25%."
Ravi Agrawal of Lakshmi Cotton Industries, Paratwada, said that his industry is facing a loss of Rs 3,000 everyday due to power cuts. "Moreover, the timings of the load-shedding are also not suitable as it is disturbing the production. I have to process at least 200 bales of cotton everyday but due to power crisis I can process only 130-140 bales. There are around 8-10 small industries in private area at Paratwada which are facing similar problem," he said.
Another entrepreneur Gajanan Tayde of Gajraj Papad Industries, Akola, said that he had been facing six hours load-shedding daily. "It takes two hours to start all machines. Due to this we do not shut down machines even during power cut. This adds to our daily expenses of generator. Moreover, the odd timing of load-shedding forces us to make adjustment in the working shifts of labourers. We have to pay them for full shift without any work," he said, adding, "Even the quality of production suffers."
Seeking a solution to the problem, some small scale industry owners have written a letter to the MIDC to give them an express feeder or a separate suitable feeder. They said that the owners are ready to bear a part of the cost of the feeder provided the MSEDCL gives them some relaxation in the subsequent bills. They argued that the separate feeder will not only benefit the entrepreneurs but also the MSEDCL. But they are yet to get any word either from the MSEDCL to MERC.
The MERC is scheduled to make a hearing in Amravati on July 11.
President of MIDC Association Kiran Paturkar said that the association has appealed both MSEDCL and MERC to provide separate feeder or connection to small entrepreneur of rural region. "MSEDCL is already implementing this scheme for new small entrepreneurs. If it can implement this scheme for the rural entrepreneurs in non-MIDC area, it will definitely boost the industrial growth in the region," he said.
Sources in MSEDCL said that though demand of the MIDC Association is feasible but it is difficult to implement for a group of the entrepreneurs. "However if the entrepreneurs want connection or feeder individually there will be no problem in implementing the scheme," he said.