Ludhiana: Industry, opposition slam govt over hike in power tariff for commercial units

Terming the announcement anti-industry and the relief to domestic consumers an eyewash ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, industrialists said they are in dire need of relief amid the pandemic

With the state hiking fixed and energy consumption charges for large scale and power intensive units, pandemic beleaguered industrialists and Opposition parties have slammed the government and Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Fixed charges for large-scale consumers have been increased by upto ₹20 per KVA and energy consumption charges have been hiked by seven paise. (REUTERS)

The hiked tariff will come into effect from June 1.

Terming the announcement anti-industry and the relief to domestic consumers an eyewash ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, industrialists said they are in dire need of relief amid the pandemic. They added that fixed charges for large-scale consumers have been increased by upto ₹20 per KVA and energy consumption charges have been hiked by seven paise. Gurmeet Kular, president, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation, said, “The recently approved power tariff is an election stunt by the state government, for which the industry will have to bear the brunt. As per the new tariff, for a unit with a power connection of 500 KW, an additional ₹15,000 will be charged per month.”

Furnace Alliance president Mahesh Gupta, Federation of Punjab Small Industrial Association president Badish Jindal, and Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings general secretary Pankaj Sharma slammed the move. Punjab BJP chief spokesperson Anil Sareen, said, “The government has tried to get votes by announcing ₹ 0.50 to ₹1 relief for residential consumers. But, it has still failed to provide power at ₹5 per unit to industry, which was promised in elections.”