-All the Major Industrial Organizations held a Meeting Against Govt’s Decision
-Expressed Deep Concern About Additional and Unnecessary Financial Burden on Industries
-Decided to Form a Joint Industrial Representative Organization “CHIA” at State level
-Decided to Demand Withdrawal of Hike in Electricity rates by Submitting Memorandum to CM and Industry Minister
Gurugram : Protests have started in Haryana against the huge increase in electricity rates. All the major industrial organizations of the state held a meeting against the decision of the government. This important meeting was organized by the Confederation of Haryana Industrial Associations at Coin Park in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram. This meeting was chaired by senior industrialists Colonel Raj Singla and Ashok Kohli. Representatives of 24 industrial associations from across the state including Gurugram, Bahadurgarh, Rewari, Sohna, Rohtak, Karnal, Faridabad, Rai, Kundli and other area participated in it. In this meeting, which lasted for about three hours, the situation arising out of the increase in electricity rates by the government was discussed in detail.
All the entrepreneurs present in the meeting unanimously registered their protest against the Haryana government and the electricity department in the context of the crisis arising out of the decision of excessive increase in fixed charges and tariff rates of electricity in Haryana.
In the meeting, representatives of all the industrial areas of the state expressed deep concern about the additional and unnecessary financial pressure on the industries due to the excessive increase in fixed charges and electricity tariff in Haryana. On this occasion, the formal formation of a joint industrial representative organization CHIA at the state level was announced and it was also decided to demand withdrawal of the hike in electricity rates by submitting a memorandum to the CM and Industry Minister of the state.
In the meeting, Deepak Maini, Chairman of Progressive Federation of Trade and Industry (PFTI) said that such sudden and excessive increase in electricity rates is affecting the business stability of the industries. He also said that there does not seem to be any justifiable basis for the increase in fixed charges. Apart from this, some sectors are being given free electricity while this burden is being put on the industries unilaterally and unevenly.
Colonel Raj Singla and Ashok Kohli, belonging to the Chamber of Industries, Udyog Vihar, Gurugram, expressed concern that decisions are being implemented by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) without giving proper opportunity to any representative of the industries. They also questioned the validity of the annual reports submitted by the utilities before the HERC — it is inconsistent how the companies which were earning profit in the previous years suddenly went into loss.
Kundli Industries Association President Subhash Gupta said that Haryana’s industrial tariff is the highest compared to many states in the country, making it extremely difficult for MSME units to make profits. Mr. Subhash Gupta said that an atmosphere of terror is being created by the GST department in Kundli and surrounding industrial areas, 8 to 10 officers of the GST department are coming inside the factory in a government vehicle, closing the main gate from inside, confiscating the mobiles of all the employees and factory owners, threatening and exploiting the industrialists by demanding bribes, due to which mobilization has started against the GST department in Kundli and surrounding industrial areas.
Some important decisions were taken in the meeting, mainly that a joint representation signed by all the member associations will be sent to the Chief Minister and Industry Minister of Haryana, demanding reconsideration of the tariff hike. A review petition will be filed before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC). If a satisfactory solution is not found, filing a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court will be considered.
To improve the quality of power distribution in industrial areas, privatization of distribution utilities will be demanded, as currently DHBVN and UHBVN are not supplying uninterrupted 24×7 power.
The industrialists have urged the government to take up this issue on priority and resolve it so that the pace of industrial development in Haryana is not affected. During this meeting, Ashok Kohli, Colonel Singal, Deepak Maini, R L Sharma, Dr. SP Agarwal, Subhash Gupta, Jagannath Mangala, HP Yadav, Praveen Yadav, Ashwini Kumar, Ratan Khatana, Animesh Saxena, PK Sharma, Vipin Bajaj, Jagatpal Singh, Amit Garg were present.
