Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

MCCI opposes TNEB move

CHENNAI: The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) has “strongly objected” to unilateral move by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to curtail power to HT consumers for about eight hours from October 9.

In a press release issued here on Thursday, the MCCI said the industry was already subjected to scheduled and unscheduled power cuts and hence they were unable to comprehend to the said circular.

Urging the TNEB to review the circular, MCCI president Srinivasan K. Swamy said “power cuts must be imposed if found necessary by TNEB. The industry cannot be held accountable for using the power available on the grid. In other words, it is unfair to expect the industry to voluntarily not utilise the power when it is available. The threat of cutting of the power supply is grossly unfair.

A spokesman for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that the new rules were meant for commercial establishments and it would not harm large industries.

“The new circular is definitely detrimental to the growth of the State’s economy. The industry is already facing problems due to levy of fresh taxes and the fresh power cut during peak hours would mean more trouble,” said Hindustan Chamber of Commerce official.

Sindhi Chamber of Commerce president Gurmukh L. Kinger said “it will give lot of hardship to small dealers. The evening hour power cut will force everyone to go in for captive power system. Naturally, the cost will be transferred to end-customers, which will again add up to the cost. TNEB should reconsider long duration power cut. While we welcome fresh investments into the State, we should not neglect the existing industries.”

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