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Time of India
27-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Industry association protests sharp spike in power tariff in Haryana
Gurgaon: Industrial bodies across the state have launched a collective protest against the recent spike in power tariffs, seeking intervention from the govt and Haryana Energy Regulatory Commission (HERC). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Excessive hikes in fixed charges and electricity rates caused financial strain and threatened business sustainability, the industrialists said, adding that while certain other sectors received free electricity, the industrial sector was levied a disproportionately high tariff on it. Fixed charges for industry were increased from Rs 165 per kVA per month to Rs 290 per kVA per month in April. This increase of Rs 125 per kVA per month means that small enterprises could face an increase of around Rs 15,000 per month, while mid-sized firms could see their energy bills rise by over Rs 40,000 monthly. The hike in tariff and fixed charges would mean an additional burden exceeding Rs 2,100 crore annually — Rs 1,195 crore under DHBVN and an estimated Rs 950 crore under UHBVN — on the state's industry, as calculated by the industry association. A meeting of confederation of Haryana industrial associations (CHIA), which took place on July 24 and marked the protests, was attended by representatives from 24 industrial associations from across the state, including Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, Rewari, Sohna, Rohtak, Karnal, Faridabad, Rai, and Kundli. At the meeting, it was decided that a formal review petition will be filed before HERC and if a satisfactory resolution was not achieved, legal recourse through Punjab & Haryana High Court will be considered. The industrialists also sought privatisation of electricity distribution utilities in industrial areas, saying DHBVN and UHBVN failed in providing an uninterrupted 24x7 power supply. Deepak Maini, chairperson of progressive federation of trade and industry (PFTI), said the increase in tariffs adversely affected business sustainability and appeared unjustified. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Members of chamber of industries, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, Col Raj Singla and Ashok Kohli, expressed concerns over the decision-making process of HERC. Adequate opportunity was not given to industry representatives to present their views before implementation of the tariffs, they said. They also questioned the validity of annual revenue requirement (ARR) reports submitted by the utility companies to HERC, calling it inconsistent on the grounds that companies which previously reported profits are now suddenly claiming losses. Subhash Gupta, president of Kundli industries association, said that Haryana's industrial tariff was among the highest in the country, making it extremely difficult for MSME units to remain profitable. He also highlighted the alarming conduct of officials from the GST department in Kundli and nearby industrial zones, alleging that teams of 8 to 10 officers, using govt vehicles, forcibly enter factories, lock the main gates from the inside, seize the mobile phones of owners and staff, intimidate them, and blatantly extort bribes. Incidents such as these, he said, have led to a growing movement in the Kundli region against misuse of power by GST officials.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fixed power charges hiked 76% for industries in Gurgaon
Gurgaon: Haryana discoms have increased the monthly fixed charges for industries by 76% even as the industry association has opposed the move, saying it could severely damage Haryana's industrial competitiveness, particularly impacting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Maintaining that "industry cannot be penalised for inefficiencies it did not create," it has demanded the formation of a joint task force (JTF) to review the tariff order to provide relief to MSMEs. Fixed charges for industry increased from Rs 165 per kVA per month to Rs 290 per kVA per month, an increase of Rs 125 per kVA per month. With the increase in fixed charges, small enterprises with a 100 kVA sanctioned load face an increase of Rs 15,500 per month, while mid-sized firms could see their energy bills rise by over Rs 40,000 monthly. The hike in tariff and fixed charges will total an additional burden on the state's industry, as calculated by the industry association, exceeding Rs 2,100 crore annually — Rs 1,195 crore under DHBVN and an estimated Rs 950 crore under UHBVN. The industry pointed out that in March 2021, both discoms (DHBVN and UHBVN) reported a combined profit of around Rs 800 crore. However, in the latest submission before Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission, both the discoms showed a cumulative loss of around Rs 4,800 crore — DHBVN reported a loss of Rs 2,800 crore and UHBVN reported a loss of Rs 2,000 crore. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Progressive Federation of Trade & Industry (PFTI) chairman Deepak Maini said, "This turnaround from profit to loss in just four years comes despite the utilities consistently reporting a downward trend of AT&C losses." He said no adequate public reasoning or audit disclosure has been made available to justify this deterioration. They alleged that figures related to AT&C (aggregate technical & commercial) losses, particularly for the domestic category, may have been over-optimistically reported, possibly masking inefficiencies or misreporting trends over time. "Industry cannot be penalised for all this," Maini said. Chairman of the power committee of PFTI Sanjeev Chopra said for the industry, the power tariff was increased by Rs 0.30 per unit and fixed charges were increased by Rs 125 per kVA per month. The small industry with 100 kVA and consumption of 10,000 units will pay around Rs 15,500 extra per month. Similarly, a medium-sized enterprise with a 100 kVA load and monthly consumption of 1 lakh units will pay around Rs 42,500 additional amount per month as electricity charges. Chopra said, "Smaller industries are now paying more per unit than large ones, despite having lower usage, an unintended punishment for size and scale." The industry association said the discoms need to change the method of billing. In the past, billing was done on a kWh basis and industries were not incentivised to maintain capacitor banks. This led to substantial reactive power losses.
