A cross-section of powerloom weavers undertaking job works in Coimbatore district and parts of Tiruppur district has said it had decided not to pay the revised electricity tariff that came into effect on September 10.
The two districts are said to have nearly 20,000 power connections for powerloom units. The weavers , doing job works, made the decision at a meeting held in Somanur on Sunday. The weavers would have regional meetings on Thursday and decide their future course of action.
Electricity cost constitutes one-third of the fabric production cost. “We are job working units, and we do not determine the cost of the fabric. It is the master weavers who pay us for weaving the fabric. With a higher power tariff, we will have to bear the additional cost unless the master weavers increase the amount paid to the job working units,” said E. Bhoopathi of the Coimbatore and Tiruppur district job working powerloom owners’ federation.
In Coimbatore district, the job working units operate two shifts and consume more power than other districts. The new tariff structure has four slabs for the powerloom units. The units will have to pay about ₹1.50 more for a unit of power consumed, he said.
