The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Karur textile units badly affected by power crisis

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 05, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Karur textile units badly affected by power crisis

L. Renganathan

Rs.15 crore worth production loss a day, say industry sources

Over two lakh skilled and unskilled workers engaged in the trade
Government urged to announce a power
supply schedule

KARUR: The continuing power crisis is taking a toll of the hundreds of textile export and other allied units in the district.

The industry has claimed it is suffering an estimated Rs.15 crore worth production loss a day and has called upon the State Government to announce a power supply schedule.

Textile industry sources in the district said that over two lakh skilled and unskilled workers are engaged in textile and its allied activities such as dyeing, bleaching, yarn trade, tailoring, stitching, etc. Already the industry, which was withering one crisis after another over the past year, was suffering a two-hour load shedding daily.

The recently announced five-hour load shedding schedule would further jeopardize the prospects of the industry and allied activities, according to the Karur Textile Forum president M. Sivakkannan.

Yarn price hike, Dollar value downswing, increase in administrative expenses and cost of labour, shortage of manpower, increase in the bank lending rates, cut in duty drawback rates, etc. have almost crippled the industry. Power crisis now comes on top of the problems, he points out.

Since the exporters plan for season ahead, they would be getting the orders by the end of September and only then the units could complete the delivery schedule between March and May next. If the power situation has deteriorated to the current extent how would there be enough power during summer when usually there would be shortage of power with wind power, hydel power, etc. not operating in full strength, they wonder.

There is no word yet from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board on the restrictions enforced on the use of power generators between 6 and 10 in the evening, power loss of 24 hours from Thursday 6 a.m. to Friday 6 a.m., etc. If they were to be added, then our cup of woe is full to the brim, points out Karur Textile Exporter Manufacturers’ Association president V. Kumar.

In using diesel for operating the power generator sets, the production costs have gone up significantly. Outsourced materials arrive in delay and their costs too are on the rise. Such factors have thrown the production schedule of many units awry and several units were now not able to operate on full scale. All these factors are pushing the industry to the brink, as there is loss of production estimated to be worth Rs.15 crore a day in Karur alone, they aver. Industry sources claim that uninterrupted power supply at subsidised cost to Special Economic Zone units is the crux of the matter. “We don’t need any concessions in power supply tariff, ensuring non-prohibitive supply would solve many of our problems,” they say.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu