Members of the Wood Industries Welfare Association (WIWA) have come out against the new system introduced by the state government to determine the price of electricity being supplied to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
WIWA general secretary P Rajan said the new method is totally unscientific and it should be reconsidered.
“As per the new system every year the enterprises will be forced to reduce the consumption by 25 percent less than the previous year. If we fail to do so, the enterprise owners should pay an additional amount along with the usual electricity charge,” Rajan added.
According to him, it is unpractical to reduce 25 percent consumption every year.
This should be changed by the state government.
The WIWA members also termed the state government’s decision as ‘discouraging’.
“Power regulations will restrain the wood industries from making profit. Also people associated with the industry will back out from the business,” he said.
Besides, they have also announced to conduct various protests against refusing licence for wood industries as part of the state government move to protect forest land.
They have demanded the state government to implement the pending power producing project instead of imposing unscientific power tariff hike.
Meanwhile, the officials with the Kerala State Electricity Board said that considering the current crisis in electricity sector, the enterprises should use generators and other alternative systems to reduce power consumption.