During Covid crises, over 14,000 industries closed down In Punjab

A total of 14,429 units shut down in Punjab during Covid pandemic, reveals the data shared by the All India Trade Forum

The Covid-19 pandemic proved catastrophic for the state industry as a total of 14,429 units shut down during this period, reveals the data shared by the All India Trade Forum (AITF). The data has been compiled from the annual revenue report of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

With electricity being the base raw material for industries, the data reveals that during the Covid pandemic, as many as 10,617 small power, 3,210 medium power and 422 large power units were closed in Punjab.

With electricity being the base raw material for industries, the data reveals that during the Covid pandemic, as many as 10,617 small power, 3,210 medium power and 422 large power units were closed in the state.

“But the state government never turned up to give any relief to the industries. The load of small power connections decreased from 10,99,243 KVA to 10,55,227 KVA and that of medium industries from 20,29,163 KVA to 16,08,963 KVA and from 67,52,580 KVA to 58,74,316 KVA of large industrial units,” said Badish Jindal, president of theAITF.

The data reveals that in 2012, the number of small power connections was 90,372, which is now 91,546. The number of medium connections was 26,361 and in 2021, it increased to merely 29,069.

Similarly, in the large power consumers, the number of connections was 6,577, which increased to a meagre of 6,697 during the same period.

The total number of regular industrial connections increased from 12,3310 to 12,7312 during the last eight years. Besides, there are 2,475 medium and 2,572 large seasonal units which consume negligible power. Thus, the number of regular industries merely increased to 4,002 whereas during the same period the number of residential connections increased to 1477113, reveals data.

The number of commercial connections increased to 1,92,437 and number of agriculture connections increased to 2,31,975 in Punjab. Even the population growth in the state during the same period increased from 2,77,43,338 to 3,05,01,026. This shows that even after the growth in population of about 27.57 lakh, the number of industries increased merely to 4,002.

On the other hand, neighbouring Haryana collected ₹5,618 crore GST in August 2021 whereas Punjab collected ₹1,414 crore in the same period. In 2011, the VAT collection was ₹12,200 crore in Punjab and ₹11,082 crore in Haryana.