CHENNAI: Ice manufacturers catering specifically to the seafood industry are wary of the proposed revision of electricity tariff by Tangedco and want a separate category for them as introduction of peak hour consumption for low tension supply connection and nearly doubled fixed charges of high tension connection in the existing categories would destroy their already volatile business.
Currently, the ice manufacturers for the fishing industry are categorised under MSME medium category and are charged under IIIB slab for low tension (LT) connection and IA slab for high tension (HT) supply. For the LT connections, they are currently charged Rs 35 per kW as fixed charges irrespective of the load and consumption charges are Rs 6.35 per unit. However, in the proposed revision, the fixed charges for the connections with a load between 50 kW to 100 kW is Rs 325 and for those with a load above 100kW, the fixed charges are Rs 600, which are nearly 10 and 20 times of the present charges, respectively. Also, the peak hours consumption charges have been proposed to be introduced to different categories, so the consumers under these categories will have to pay 25 per cent extra for the electricity consumption from 6.30 am to 10.30 am and 6 pm to 10 pm.
