CHANDIGARH: In order to attract new investment and provide succour to the existing industry in the state, the Punjab Government has offered power tariff subsidy amounting to Rs 6, 760 crore and electricity duty exemption worth Rs 156 crore to the industry in the past four years.
By offering power supply at flat Rs 5 per unit and extending subsidy to small, medium and large industry for several years, the government's subsidy bill has been rising ever since it came up with the offer in 2018.
Mr. Rajat Agarwal, IAS, CEO Invest Punjab, said that the data compiled by Invest Punjab, the state government's Investment Promotion Agency, shows that the current fiscal's power subsidy bill to the industry has been estimated to cost a whopping Rs 2, 266 crore. The power subsidy bill amounted to Rs 1, 559 crore in 2020-21, Rs 1, 480 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 1, 455 crore in 2018-19, he added.
The cheaper power and subsidy have resulted in an increase in the number of industries and their production in the state over the past four years. This is evident from the fact that there is a marked increase in both the number of power connections and the connection load in the industrial sector.
The official data suggests that the connection load of the industries in the state crossed a whopping 10, 000 MW mark in the last fiscal 2020-21.
The year-to-year analysis showed that the number of total connections went up from 1, 31, 899 in 2016-17 to 1, 37, 073 in 2017-18, 1, 39, 209 in 2018-19, 1, 43, 570 in 2019-20, and 1, 46, 899 in 2020-21.
Similarly, the connection load increased from 8, 891 MW in 2016-17 to 9, 258 MW in 2017-18, 9, 606 MW in 2018-19, 9, 964 MW in 2019-20 and 10, 110 MW in 2020-21.
When it comes to power consumption, the industry has consumed 13, 958 MUs in 2016-17 to 16, 032 MUs in 2017-18, 16, 965 MUs in 2018-19, 18, 270 MUs in 2019-20 and 16, 428 MUs in 2020-21
“To assuage the pain of medium-scale industry, Punjab Government has ordered 50 per cent waiver of fixed charges for the MS industry consumers having load upto 100 KVA. These concessions will go a long way in providing relief to the industry in the state”, said Mr. Rajat Agarwal.
The notification for the same has been issued by Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. on November 17, 2021 and is available on the Invest Punjab website https://pbindustries.gov.in/static/about_punjab;Key=Notifications.