Chennai 11 September : The Tamil Nadu power loom owners association is planning to stage massive protests against the increase in rates for tariffs that came in effect on Sunday.Somanur Power Loom Units Association treasurer, E.Bhoopathy told the media that the business was experiencing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to a lockdowns and increases in prices for cotton yarn.
He stated that the increase in power tariffs will negatively impact their business.
He also said that 95 percent of the power looms in Coimbatore and Tiruppur were engaged in job work.
The job-working power looms fall into the classification of Tariff 3A2, which comes with 70 paise per unit increase after an announcement by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC).
The group of owners of power looms had earlier filed a petition with the state government and the TNERC against the increase.
The Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) has also spoken out in support of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) regarding the announcement of the power tariff increase even though hearings conducted by the commission.
The association stated that the rise in the power tariff could affect the MSME industry, which was slowly returning to normalcy following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the meantime the PMK has been vocal about its opposition to the hike.The state president of the party Dr.Anbumany Ramadoss told the media that the party will conduct an array of protests across the state in opposition to the hike.
PMK demanded Chief Minister M.K.Stalin to either revert the increased tariff rates or to confront an array of protests in the streets.
aal/dpb
