BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the next hearing on review of the tariff orders passed by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the Odisha Industries Federation (OIF) and Utkal Chamber of Commerce have sought the intervention of the State government for rollback of the tariff hike.
Drawing the attention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to the adverse impact of the tariff on the Covid-19 pandemic hit industry sector through his Principal Advisor Asit Tripathy, the OIF members said that many power intensive industries of the State will shut their units as they are not a in a position to bear the huge input cost.
In a letter to Tripathy, OIF chairman and former member of State Planning Board Sarat Sahoo said the new power tariff effective from April, 2021 has increased the power cost by 12 to 20 per cent for different categories of consumers. “I have received messages from various district industry bodies that the enhanced power tariff is not sustainable and it is like a death warrant for power intensive industries.
Some of the industries have already sent closure notices to the government,” Sahoo said. The impact of the high power tariff on the MSME sector, considered to be the backbone of the economy, is yet to be analysed. The government should analyse the implications of the hike on the MSME sector and take corrective measures by providing some relief to the sector that provides maximum employment, he suggested.
Stating that the power tariff hike is unrealistic, MV Rao, head of power committee of Utkal Chamber of Commerce said that it is unacceptable as the State is power surplus.