Noida: 200 factories withdraw their electricity connections after the Covid-19 outbreak

NOIDA: With shrinking workforce and orders, over 200 factories in Gautam Budh Nagar have withdrawn their power connections since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Not only that, nearly 200 other industrial units in the district have opted for reduced power loads, said officials of the Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (PVVNL), the power distribution company of the district.

PVVNL (Noida division) chief engineer Virendra Nath Singh said that since April this year, 207 industrial units have voluntarily pulled their plugs, after clearing their outstanding dues. “Apart from them, nearly 211 other units have asked us to reduce their stipulated power load. The industrial units, which have permanently disconnected their electric lines, have also given their undertaking that they will not start their production again,” he said.

Singh further said that right from the formation of the discom, out of 11,010 factories falling under the domain of PVVNL, as many as 3,115 units have been voluntarily disconnected their electric supply permanently. “It’s a very serious matter that reflects the industrial growth of a city or district. While 390 big industrial units of 2,497 units have got their permanent disconnection, another 2,725 of 8,513 medium and small units have opted for permanent power disconnection. As on average, permanent disconnection is opted by nearly 370 industrial units every year,” he said.

Rajesh Kumar, who was running a factory of electronic materials in Sector 63, said that he had no other option than to close his factory as the cost of raw material has gone much higher and the orders have become limited after the Covid-19 outbreak. “Despite being declared as ‘no power cut zone’ by the state government, Noida has no respite from regular tripping. Also, after the ban on diesel gensets in NCR, we have no option left other than pull our shutters down,” he said.

Surendra Nahta, president of MSME Association (Noida chapter), said that frequent power cuts have become a routine affair in Noida. “We face regular power cut every day. And, if the industries can’t work on diesel gensets, it is impossible to run the factories. The industries in GB Nagar district are on a receiving end,” he said.

However, discom officials said that whenever there is a power cut, our staff fix the problem at the earliest.