Hyderabad,October 16 :There were many warnings given by Telangana leaders about the siege of the region would only paralyse the entire state economy. With the indefinite Sakala Janula Samme, which was started on 13 September and still going strong, the warning ceases to be one and has become a reality. The shortage of power generation caused by the ongoing samme is spelling doom for the industry and has the agriculture in dire straits.
The Telangana region houses the country’s second largest coal mine, the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL), which is a major coal supplier for power projects in the state, and four thermal power plants with about 40 per cent of total thermal power production capacity in the state. The initial support of the Singareni miners to the strike has brought coal production to a standstill. This in turn has compelled the six thermal power plants in the state to produce well below their installed capacity of 4592.50 MW. After some strenuous efforts, the management of Singareni Collieries could revive the production. “Now, we are producing up to 55,000 tonnes a day against the daily production target of 1.55 lakh tonnes, said JV Dattatreyulu, Director (Operations) of SCCL.
Besides the strike snags, the troubled monsoon of 2011 has compounded the power crisis. The shortage of rainfall has cost about half of the hydel power generation, which about 20 per cent of overall installed power production capacity in the state. Now, against the per day demand of 269 MU, the state power distribution companies were supplying only about 230 MU a day by the second week of October. This has taken the per day supply deficit to a crticial level of 40 MU a day, according to information from the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (AP Transco).
The power shortage has pushed the industries across the state into a panic mode. After 14 days of continual power shutdowns, the AP Transco declared the first one-day industrial power holiday on 25 September. This meant power supply to industries would be cut off for 24 hours in a week at scheduled timings, besides the routine weekly power shutdown. This effectively meant a two-day power shutdown in a week for industries. This was followed by announcement of a two-day power holiday from 2 October onwards, which meant a staggering three days of power shutdown in a week.
According to industry sources, they are also suffering a daily four-hour shutdown during the peak hours and also some unannounced cuts apart from the scheduled cuts. The constant power shutdowns are taking a huge toll on industrial production in the state. According to estimations of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI), the production loss of the industries in the st ate is about Rs. 200 crore per day.
“This situation is putting the industries in a difficult position. We are losing about 55 per cent to 60 per cent of total production hours,” said Devendra Surana, a Hyderabad-based industrialist and senior vice-president of FAPCCI. “Most of the small scale industries cannot afford to use generators as the power cost will go up to Rs. 12 to Rs. 14 per unit, which is almost four times higher the cost of the power supplied by the state government firms. Due to this, the work availability for workers has become drastically low. Especially the contract labourers are not finding the work,” he explained. The small-scale industries are losing a good number of man-hours every day, as the workers have no option but to sit idle during the shutdowns.
As a result, the industries are finding it tough to meet the order deadlines and the prospect of losing their customers seems imminent. “I have a customer in Chennai, for whom I have been supplying 100 per cent of his required material for 20 years. Now he is wondering whether I can meet his deadline and has asked me if he should look for a new supplier in Chennai. Once a customer is gone, it’s almost impossible to get him back. Many industrialists are sharing the same concern, we are losing even our long time customers,” said Surana.
The power crisis has affected IT and ITeS industry of the state, though not as hard as other industries. According to industry sources, the IT industry is not incurring much production losses when compared to other industries. However, this city-based industry is clearly worried about Hyderabad’s losing sheen as a favorable destination for new IT projects. The image of Hyderabad is on a slide since two years and the month-long agitation has only served to aggravate the problem. Quite a few professionals, who are natives of other states, are considering relocation as their children’s education is being affected due to the ongoing strike. “Let us accept it. The IT industry is taking a beating due to the month-long agitation. Investment and hiring scenario is not encouraging and we are worried about Brand Hyderabad and want governments to resolve the issue at the earliest,” opined L. Suresh, CEO of Identis Tech Solutions and president of the IT and ITES Industry in Andhra Pradesh.
The situation of agriculture is more alarming in the state. The continuous power shutdowns, which have coincided with scanty rainfall, are casting a shadow on the farm sector. Signs of crop loss in present kharif season are in the air in many districts. The supply of agricultural power did not cross even 3 hours a day in some districts in the month of September, according to farmers. Though the number of supply hours has gone up to five to six hours a day in this month, it is not of great help to them as it is not being supplied at a stretch. “We can make use of power, only if it is supplied in a single stretch. Otherwise, it is as good as complete shutdown, farmers can’t water their fields without quality supply of power,” said Yerneni Nagendranath, a farmer and leader of AP Swatantra Rythu Sanghala Samakhya.
Farmers who heavily depend on bore well irrigation, are too a worried lot now. “Both, the artificial inflation due to samme and fears of crop loss are troubling the farmers in this district. And opposition for samme is growing among the farmers,” said Kotta Somasekher Rao, a farmers’ leader from Nizamabad. However, that opposition doesn’t mean an opposition movement for a separate state, he added.