Ludhiana | Industrial hub reels under unscheduled power cuts

Unscheduled power cuts, and confusion over power restrictions imposed on the industry are taking a toll on businesses in the industrial hub.

With power randomly disrupted for three to four hours everyday, industrialists’ production cycle has been disturbed, causing them loses in crores everyday. Lambasting the government for failing to prepare a contingency plan to meet the power shortage during summers, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) president Gurmeet Kular said the power department was imposing unscheduled power cuts in the name of maintenance to save the image of the department and state government. “Besides, there is a lot of confusion among industrialists as contradicting notices regarding power restrictions are floating on WhatsApp groups. Our manufacturing process has been disturbed because of uncertain power timings.”

“On April 29 too, a message was floated on WhatsApp announcing a power cut on Saturday from 8am till the evening. It triggered panic, but no power cut was imposed in Ludhiana city. However, there was no power supply in Samrala area, citing maintenance work. The state government is not serious about resolving the issue, and the industry is consequentially bearing the brunt,” said Kular.

Improve power infra: Small scale manufacturers

Disgruntled with the regular power outages, Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association president Jaswinder Thukral said, “Unscheduled power cuts should not be imposed on industry. Using generator sets is not viable as the price of diesel has been skyrocketing. The department and the state government must improve their infrastructure and communication process, so that accurate information is shared with the industry.”

Calling the frequent blackouts “dangerous for the industry,” Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) president Badish Jindal said unscheduled cuts are dangerous for the industry and different industrial process, especially furnaces come to a halt, resulting in losses. “Punjab State Power Corporation Limited officials and the state government are issuing contradictory statements regarding the power crisis in the state. The state government does not want to accept that it has failed to streamline power supply in the state.”

“At present, the industry is running at low capacity due to the slump in the market. The situated would have been worse on regular days,” said Jindal.

Furnace industry at the receiving end

The power of all 55 furnaces in Ludhiana and 180 in Mandi Gobindgarh was snapped at an hour’s notice on April 29. Irate furnace owners said, “When the production cycle of a furnace is disturbed, it results in losses, as the material kept in the furnaces turns out to be of sub-standard quality and has to be sold as scrap afterwards.”

Ludhiana Furnace Alliance president Mahesh Gupta said, “We received a message from PSPCL officials at around 7:30am on April 29 saying power supply will be snapped after an hour. The industrialists said that the entire production and payment cycle was disturbed due to an eight-hour power cut.”

“Furnace owners are the among the highest taxpayer of the state and also pay hefty power bills. But it seems the government and PSPCL are least concerned about the sector. Furnace owners have to pay electricity bills ranging from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore in the first week of the month. The entire production and payment cycle was disturbed due to the power cut. Now, if payment of power bills is delayed, we will have to pay penalties,” he said, adding that power supply was restored around 4.30pm.