Haryana’s industrial sector including in the key hub of Manesar has been hit hard by a fortnight-long power crisis. The State’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises especially have been among the hardest hit, with long power outages also disrupting the supply of water to the industry, and making these units dependent on tankers to meet the demand.
Scheduled power cuts for 8-10 hours overnight as well as frequent unscheduled outages, ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, during the day had brought the industry, especially the MSMEs, to its knees, asserted Manmohan Gaind, general secretary, Manesar Industries Welfare Association. “It has been going on for the past two-three weeks. Such power crisis is unprecedented. The power supply management of the government has been excellent over the past four-five years, but this summer the situation is very grim,” said Mr. Gaind.
Adding to industry’s woes, the high fuel rates have made it difficult for factory owners to run diesel generator sets for long hours. “The DG sets can be used for power backup for a shorter period of time, and not to run the factory for hours together. Also, with the diesel prices touching ₹100 per litre, the cost of running a DG set comes to around ₹30 per unit,” observed Mr. Gaind.
Onkar Singh Galla, proprietor, Hypnotic Clothings, Industrial Model Township, Manesar, said he operated a DG set for about three hours on an average every day to meet the unit’s power requirement. “There is little point in complaining since no one listens,” contended Mr. Galla.
The long hours of power outages have also hit water supply to the industry in Manesar with water pump stations not running at full capacity. The factory owners said they were forced to meet the demand through water tankers adding to the cost. Mr. Galla said while his unit was not facing any water supply issues as it was close to the water pumping station, those further away from the station were facing difficulties.
Narinder Chhikara, vice-president, Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the situation was no different in Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh area as well and power supply from the grid was available for only 6-7 hours a day hitting production. He asserted that the authorities had been offering assurances for the past 10 days, but there had been no improvement in the situation.
Bahadurgarh, a major industrial town of Haryana, has about 9,000 MSMEs, including footwear, automobile, spare parts, and industrial manufacturing units employing about 7.5 lakh people directly and indirectly.
Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh has said the State would get about 1,500 MW additional power in 10 days. He said that at present three units of 250 MW each were operating in Panipat, two units of 600 MW each in Khedar and two units of 300 MW each in Yamunanagar. In addition, 1,400 MW of electricity was being arranged from Adani Power Plants. Mr. Singh added that 1,000 MW additional power would be drawn from Adani, 350 MW from Chhattisgarh and 150 MW from Madhya Pradesh. If needed more electricity would be arranged from the market and there would be no shortage of electricity even during peak hours, Mr. Singh asserted.
