'Power crisis may force closure of 25 percent small businesses'

New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) Acute power shortages are likely to force over 25 percent micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in several states, mostly in north India, to close their businesses, according to industry lobby Assocham.

The worst affected states are Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in a report.

In its survey released last week, Assocham stated that the industrial production is likely to fall by 40 percent due to frequent power outages in north Indian states that are also coping with severe heat wave.

Due to extreme power deficit, industrial production in states of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra would have to be curtailed to the extent of 30-35 percent, particularly in manufacturing unitsm, as these have no alternative means to produce power.

According to a feedback received by Assocham from the industry, power deficit in the states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and J&K may go up to 30-35 percent in June-July from 20-25 percent recorded in April-May.

Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the industrialised states in the country, is facing one of the worst crises, and resorting to an average load-shedding of 10-12 hours a day.

Uttar Pradesh, which has a power requirement of over 8,282 million units, has availability of little over 7,358 million units (MU), with deficit ranging over 11.2 percent.

The situation is no better in Andhra Pradesh where the power deficit is approximately 12.1 percent. The availability in the state is only 7,976 MU against the requirement of 9,070 MU.

The Southern part of the country is likely to suffer energy shortage to the extent of 2,111 MU particularly in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Jammu & Kashmir suffered a power shortage of 20.3 percent in April and it is likely to go up to 25 percent in the coming months.

Besides low production capacity, Assocham said, power theft, leakages and transmission and commercial losses were among the main reasons the crisis in these states.