Open access of power market will harm textile industry: CITI

Expressing concern over opening up of power

market in India through implementation of the proposed open access (OA) facility, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said it would badly hit the country’s textile industry. In a letter to the Ministry of Power, CITI has said the move would badly hit a number of textile firms, who would be left with no other option but to procure power through open access system. The decision would exempt the power boards from the obligation to supply power to such customers as textile producers.

The Power Ministry recently directed the State Regulatory Commission to exclude all consumers using 1 megawatt or more power from the category of consumers qualifying to avail the tariffs fixed by the Regulatory Commission.

CITI Secretary General DK Nair said that almost all textile industries consume over one MW power. Under the open access system, buyers would be able to select the source of electricity and would also have a right on the transmission and distribution system for transfer of power. Under the OA system, large-scale consumers enter into bilateral deals with distribution companies (discoms) and remain out of the ambit of the regulated tariff system.

OA customers might have to pay more than regulated tariffs, which would cause majority of the textile firms to suffer, CITI said. It suggested that rather than adopting the open access system, the government should try to improve the existing power transmission and distribution system. The domestic textile industry is already enduring severe power crisis. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which are amongst the biggest textile producing states of India, have been severely affected by power crisis, CITI said. Power outages, increased costs due to use of diesel generators and other restrictions cause the textile industry in Tamil Nadu to each day lose about three billion rupees due to loss of production, it said.