With industrial production hitting low due to poor electricity supply by the State Government to industries, entrepreneurs have urged the Government of India to raise Uttarakhand's electricity quota from the Central pool.
“Since Uttarakhand does not have any alternative way to meet the increasing power demand except its hydro power system, we have urged the Minister of State for Power (independent charge) Piyush Goyal, to increase Uttarakhand' electricity share from the Central pool keeping in view the energy needs of the industrial sector of the hill State,” said Ashok Bansal, president, Kumaon Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and industry (KGCCI).
“The matter of concern is that industries have not been able to function upto their capacity due to poor power supply of late. So the industrial output has gone down,” maintained the industrialists.
The fact of the matter is that to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to the industries was one of the main attractions of the industrial package granted to Uttarkhand in 2003 for 10 years upto 2013 which led expansion of industrial activities in many parts of Uttarakhand including Pantnagar, Rudrapur, Kashipur, Sitarganj, Haridwar, Dehradun to name a few areas, further said Bansal.
However, with restricting the industrial package period only upto 2010, poor electricity supply only hit the industrial sector in Uttarakhand, he added.
Since uninterrupted power supply to industries is vital for economic viability also , therefore, we urge the Government to maintain proper supply to the industries, demanded the industrialists.
It is worth mentioning here that according to the figures provided by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl) presently, out of on an average about 38. 12 Million Unit (MU) of the gross availability of power per day , Uttarakhand is getting about 15.55 MU of power per day from domestic sources, about 15.26 MU of power per day from Central pool and rest about 7.31 MU per day of power from other sources, while the demand for power has gone up to 38.18 MU per day in the hill State.
Since demand from domestic sector for power has also gone high as of now in view of summer season, therefore, to maintain power supply to domestic sector seems to be top priority of the Government as compared to the commercial sector including the industries.
The interesting fact is that the demand for electricity which was hovering around 33 mu per day about a month ago, has now reached over 38 mu per day showing a rise of about five mu of power per day.