Aurangabad: As one of the major industrial hubs in the country, Aurangabad is among the areas in the state that have been witnessing huge unrest over the power tariff policies of the state government.The industry players have been particularly unhappy about the revision of the power tariff by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL) in September 2018 as part of the midterm review, creating a 15% hike in power rates for industries. Besides the midterm review, industry captains also are also unhappy with the increase in tax on sale to 18 paise per unit and the decrease in power factor incentive up to 3.5%.Prasad Kokil, immediate ex-president of the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA), said that drawing power from the MSEDCL has become financially non-viable due to the unjust tariff and related policy decisions.“The power tariff post the midterm review is 15% on paper, but in reality it comes to be in the range of 20% to 35% considering the various related terms and conditions. Power in Maharashtra has become costlier by 28% to 35% as compared to neighbouring states and the industries are bearing the brunt of it,” he said.Kokil said that the MSEDCL has ordered recovery of Rs20,651 crore from industries and other commercial establishments towards the losses that it has been incurring in the generation and distribution of power.“Out of Rs20,651, Rs8,268 crore has to be recovered before March 2020 and the rest of the amount thereafter, with due interest. It is an ill-conceived decision to recover the losses from consumers as it is the failure of the MSEDCL and its sister concerns because of their functioning with poor efficiency,” he said.Echoing similar grievances, Kishor Rathi, president of the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA), said that industries will face closure in the days to come due to the unjust policies of the state government. He said that the government has taken a slew of policy decisions without taking industries into confidence. “Besides reducing the incentive for maintaining an ideal power factor, the government has also removed the related slab and industries are now penalized in a blanket manner for not achieving the benchmark. Also, the government has done away with the subsidy for switching to and utilizing solar power. All such harmful decisions are taken in a unilateral manner,” he said.Aurangabad and its outskirts have nearly 650 industrial units, which falls in the high-tension (HT) category and along with the areas coming under the low-tension category, these two categories have been allegedly facing the consequences of government policies.Stating that the policy decisions taken by the state energy department have been inflicting huge losses on them, industry captains will be taking to the streets to raise their voice against the government by the public burning of power bills, as part of a statewide protest on Tuesday.“We have already raised our issues before the state government but no satisfactory measures have been taken since September last year, forcing us to stage a statewide protest,” said Kokil.When contacted, central public relations officer of the MSEDCL P S Patil said that the power tariff decisions are implemented only after approval from the quasi-judicial body that is the Maharashtra Energy Regulatory Commission (MERC). “It is only propaganda that power in neighbouring states is cheaper when compared to Maharashtra. Our state is known for offering uninterrupted power supply with quality service. In fact, some of the industries which had decided to draw power from open access through private players by keeping MSEDCL out, have eventually returned back to us,” he said.

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