Srinagar, July 21: The trade and industry bodies of J&K today strongly opposed the power tariff hike proposed by the government.
 At a joint press conference in Jammu, the representatives of traders/industrialists said the hike proposed by the government was “irrational” and “unreasonable.”
 They said the government has proposed for domestic, commercial and industrial sector a hike of 40, 65 and 90 per cent respectively in its petition filed before the State Regulatory Electric Commission.
 Y V Sharma, president Chamber of Commerce and Industry Jammu, T S Reen, chairman Federation of Industries Jammu and president AOI, Gangyal,  Annil Suri, co-chairman of FOI & President Bari Brahmana Industries Association and Nazir Ahmed Shikari,  Secretary General, Federation Chamber Industries Kashmir (FCIK) spoke at the press conference.
 They said the proposed increase for economic sector will have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of the industries and trade in the state.
 “The hike if approved will leave majority of the industrial units in the state with no option but to close down their units,” they said, adding that that would further intensify the problem of unemployment in the state.  
 Shikari and Suri while briefing the media said the government had promised subsidised electricity to the industrial sector. “On that promise a large number of large, medium and small scale industrial units have been set up in the state. This hike would kill their initiative,” they said.
 They said during past some time government has hiked the tariff a number of times without any subsidy to industrial sector.
 The said the PDD was facing tremendous problems on account high transmission and distribution losses,  non-recovery of power dues from government departments, non-metering of all domestic connections, surplus staff and other factors.
 “This all reflects the inefficiency of the PDD,” they said, adding that instead of focusing on these areas, the government was trying to increase the tariff to increase its revenues.
 “Industry in J&K is using 20 per cent of the total power supplied by the PDD and contributes 80 per cent to the total revenue collected by the department. So it is unjustified on part of the government to increase the power tariff for industrial sector,” they said.
 Shikari highlighted various factors which according to him were responsible for high transmission losses in the Kashmir Valley which are mainly attributable to PDD. 
 He said after two decades the industrial and tourism sectors have begun to show some growth in the Valley and any increase in the tariff will “disturb this growth.”
 The members appealed to the Chief Minister and the Chairman SREC to defer the proposed hike and save trade and industry which according to them is already passing through worst phase.
 The members said the cost of production in J&K is already non- competitive due to locational disadvantage. “The additional cost of production due to increase in power cost can not be met from operating margin because power intensive units are already operating under negative operating margin,” they said.
 The traders’ leaders said the net margin of about 2 per cent is only because of the excise refund and other incentives/concessions provided by the State government and Central government.
 “Moreover, due to poor industrial growth in our state and lack of proper infrastructure, the industry in our state is non-competitive as compared to adjoining states,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST