COIMBATORE: The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) has welcomed the State Government’s efforts to supply additional power to High Tension (HT) consumers in the State during peak hours from Monday.

Association chairman J. Thulasidharan has said in a release the initiatives taken by the Government, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission in sourcing about 1,000 MW power from other sources was commendable. The board was purchasing power at the request of the HT consumers to mitigate the problems faced by the industries because of power shortage. With this effort, individual HT consumers do not have to approach a third party for power purchase. The HT consumers found it difficult to purchase power individually under the open access system as there were certain limitations. The consumers had to purchase minimum one MW and the power was made available only on a 24-hour basis. When the industries faced these problems, the State Government came forward to purchase and supply additional power. Further, Mr. Thulasidharan said only about 25 per cent of HT consumers in the State adhered to the 20 per cent power cut. Several units were managing the power cut by obtaining additional load from the board. The Government should lift the power cut so that the industries had a level-playing field, he said.

He appealed to the State Government to expedite the proposed power projects and renovate the existing power plants.

Courtesy - The Hindu