Various trade bodies in Madurai have welcomed the Chief Minister’s announcement that there will be no power cuts in the State from June 1.
“The announcement has come as a great relief especially to the commercial establishments and high tension industrial units that faced peak hour restrictions from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” N. Jegatheesan, president of the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Wednesday.
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“But the power generation from wind energy could be relied upon only till mid August. Alternative arrangements such as purchase from other States should be done in advance so that the no-power-cut situation continues even after August,” he said.
V.S. Manimaran, president of the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA), said “while we welcome the announcement wholeheartedly, we will keep our fingers crossed to see if the easy situation persists even after the wind power generation drops in a few months.”
The Tamil Nadu Food Grains Merchants Association president, S.P. Jeyapragasam, lauded the efforts taken by the State in the past three years to increase power generation.
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“There is no load shedding in the State already. We are extremely hopeful that Tamil Nadu will become a State self sufficient in power generation in the near future,” he said.
A.K. Ramesh, secretary of the Federation of Tie and Dye Associations (FTDA), said “with no load shedding, we are hopeful that the cost of production materials will come down. We also expect production of Sungudi materials to raise and our business to improve.”
An official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) said the generation of power from wind energy would be adequate to meet the demands for at least five months.
“Several projects are in the pipeline to purchase power from various sources. We are confident that the power cuts will not return,” the official said.