India: Maharashtra power dept not ready to extend any more subsidy to Bhiwandi

Industry news

India: Maharashtra power dept not ready to extend any more subsidy to Bhiwandi

Maharashtra’s power department may not be able to consider the Bhiwandi powerloom sector’s demand for a power subsidy. This was communicated by the department to the state’s chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan. A subsidy to the state’s powerloom sector would mean an additional burden of Rs 4 billion. The textile sector already enjoys subsidies worth Rs 110 billion, in Maharashtra.

Chavan will convene a meeting on the issue this week. Meanwhile, president of Bhiwandi Powerloom Federation, Abdul Mannan Siddique, said, “The revised tariff will make us uncompetitive, against powerlooms in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh where tariffs are much lower. It was on the assurance of the chief minister that we called off our 12-day strike. We have set December 4 as the deadline for the government to respond, failing which we will be forced to down shutters.”

About three months ago, the power tariff was increased from Rs 2.40 per unit to Rs 4.80 per unit.