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Punjab State Power Corporation: Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PowerCom) has given a big shock to the industries. Powercom has hiked electricity rates by 50 paise per unit. After this, industries will now get electricity at the rate of Rs 5.50 per unit. It will be implemented with an annual increase of three percent for the next five years. Electricity will be available at an increased rate from April 1.
After getting approval from the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Powercom has issued a circular directing the authorities to implement the same. Powercom had sent a proposal to the Regulatory Commission to increase the cost of domestic electricity as well. However, permission has not been received yet.
In its proposal to the Regulatory Commission, Powercom had argued that it would have to buy expensive electricity and coal from outside to meet the growing demand in the state. Due to this the expenses have increased a lot but the revenue is not getting accordingly. The burden of electricity subsidy is also increasing continuously. With all these arguments, Powercom had sent a proposal to the Regulatory Commission seeking permission to increase electricity rates.
On the other hand, the PSEB Engineers Association has justified this move of the Regulatory Commission. According to the association, the economic hardship will be solved to some extent with the increase in Powercom’s income. Along with this, the burden of electricity subsidy on the government will also be reduced.
About 1.5 lakh industries will be affected
About one and a half lakh industries of the state will be affected due to increase in electricity rates. The government has given a subsidy of Rs 2669 crore to these industries during the current financial year. In this, a subsidy of Rs 189 crore has been given to small enterprises, Rs 289 crore to medium enterprises and Rs 2191 crore to large enterprises.
Industry already in recession, losses due to rising electricity rates
Rohit Bansal, head of Patiala’s Focal Point Industry Association, said that the industry is already going through a period of recession. If the government wanted to increase the rate, it should have been notified three months in advance. Due to this, the industrialist used to fix the rate of his product accordingly while taking the order. Now the rate cannot be increased on earlier orders. This will cause a huge loss to the industrialists. The Punjab government should also think about the interests of the industries. Otherwise, other industries will also shift from Punjab. Punjab government should reconsider its decision.
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