UP transformer producers threaten to stop supply

Lucknow, May 11 (IANS) Facing a sudden rise in mercury and incessant power snags, people of Uttar Pradesh are in for another shocker. The UP Transformer Industries Forum (UPTIF) Friday decided to stop all supplies to the state power corporation for not paying dues, pending for many months now.

Sources in the UPTIF -- an umbrella group of over 200 companies, including those repairing transformers - said the Uttar Pradesh Power Corp. Ltd. (UPPCL) owed the firms a whopping Rs.600 crore and that they would not be able to supply more transformers to it or repair the damaged ones.

UPTIF president A.P. Shukla told IANS that they have been trying to meet UPPCL authorities but their attempts have met with little success.

"There is a limit to which we can bleed," he said while seeking immediate intervention by the state government.

The forum fears that if the government agencies do not immediately look for a solution, there would be a huge power crisis in the state.

Transformers across the state develop snags in summers, owing to this power outages for several hours are reported.

According to UPTIF officials, bills pending clearance from the UPPCL from May 2011 to May 2012 run into Rs.600 crore.

A power official said the UPPCL has just a week's stock of standby transformers. If the government failed to find a solution, a major power crisis would stare Uttar Pradesh in face, he added.

A delegation of UPTIF members met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav last month. Yadav had handed over the forum's charter of demands to Minister for Protocol Abhishek Mishra for action.

Sources say the minister had asked the UPPCL to pay the pending amount within three months but that has not happened till now.