T Rajkumar, Chairman, Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has written to the Tamil Nadu government urging it to exempt the industry from power tariff hike. Citing the impact that the hike would work out around Re 1 per unit increasing the yarn price by Rs 5.00 to Rs 6.00 per kg for 40s count and would mean Rs 1 core to Rs 1.5 crore additional cost burden for a 25,000 spindle spinning mill. In his letter he further highlighted the long overdue demand of separate tariff or load factor incentive for the textile industry by the virtue of being Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited’s (TANGEDCO) largest consumer. SIMA also appealed to the Tamil Nadu chief minister to extend 20 per cent rebate for night hour consumption as the textile industry operates round the clock. With effect from December 12, 2014, TANGEDCO has increased power tariff for textile industries to Rs 6.35 per unit.
