Punjab: Industrial consumers in Punjab will have to pay an additional surcharge of Rs 2 per unit if they run their industrial operations during peak power demand hours from 6 pm to 10 pm. Though higher power charges are imposed on industries every year during the paddy season to discourage them from using power and ensure that adequate power is available for paddy, the industry is upset as they say they are already going through a “slowdown phase”. The surcharge, though announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) at the time of announcing its tariff order earlier this year, has become effective only from June 15.
The surcharge on peak time tariff will be levied for four months – from June 15 to October 15 – when power demand is maximum due to high demand for paddy cultivation. As a result, industrial consumers in the state will have to pay around Rs 10 per unit if they run operations during the four peak load hours. As of now, the cost of power per unit for industrial consumers is around Rs 6.80 per unit with 20 per cent additional charge. This makes the landing cost of power to the industry Rs 8.16 per unit. Industrialists say there should be flexibility in levying surcharge. “If the rains are good and the demand for paddy power is low, the industry should be exempted from the surcharge.
We are passing through a recessionary phase as the global demand for industrial goods is low and removal of surcharge at a time when there is low demand for power in the agriculture sector will give us relief,” said a Mohali-based industrialist. The worst hit are steel rolling mills and furnaces where power is the basic raw material and these units run for 18-24 hours. Mahinder Pal Gupta, president of Mandi Gobindgarh Furnace Association, said since most of these mills run for 24 hours, the increased surcharge imposed on them has now resulted in an increase of 40 paise per unit per day in power charges. Ultimately, this increases our input cost and thus affects our profitability. Upkar Singh, president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, said the only relief for the industry is that there have been no unscheduled power cuts so far.
