Many industrialists walked out of a meeting organised by Electricity Board officials after the latter insisted on a ‘weekly power holiday’ for High Tension Power users (htp), which was not agreeable to the owners, official sources said.
The industrialists said they were prepared to accept it if they were assured there would be no unannounced power cuts.
But the Superintending Engineer, who convened the meet, insisted that they agree to a one-day power cut for HTP users.
He was told that units had not been getting power for four to five hours daily. “On an average we lose 40 hours of power cut (that is more than a day). If this unannounced power cut is stopped, we can agree for a weekly power holiday, “they said.
Two industrialists said the SE was unaware of the reasons for indiscriminate power failures and that production had been severely affeced due to unannounced power cuts.
Meanwhile, a top EB official said they were not forcing industrialists for a weekly power holiday, though such things are common during acute power shortage period. “We only had a consultation meeting with industrialists. He pointed out that the state was facing a shortage of 1,000 MW.
Trade union sources said the main reason for the power crisis in Tamil Nadu was lack of planning. The EB had planned to buy power from Assam and Haryana. But that would be costly.
The Industrialists said all substations in the state had been asked to streamline and regulate power supply.
The industrialists have been invited for talks to choose a day for declaring a power holiday every week. If this was not possible, the EB would decide on “weekly power holiday”, an official of the Industrialists association said.
