SRINAGAR: The ongoing power crisis within the valley has brought down production by more than 60 per cent in the industrial sector, claim valley industrialists.
Kashmir, for the last few weeks, has been witnessing an immense power crisis, with the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited all set to announce its first curtailment schedule.
Shahid Kamili, President Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) said that the ongoing power crisis has severely impacted the industrial sector in the valley.
While he claimed that losses have mounted to worth crores of Rupees, he said the production has gone down by 65 percent in the last month.
“Even though we have limited working hours, the industrial sector doesn’t get the desired power supply. The situation is such that the production has decreased by 65 per cent, resulting in significant losses to the sector,” he said.
The industries that, as per Kamili, are mostly affected include cold storage, apple grading and packaging industries, and furniture industries.
“These are some of the industries that require an uninterrupted supply of electricity. The machines used in these industries are automatic and require a constant supply of electricity. Our members are constantly stating that these industries are suffering due to the non-availability of abundant electricity during peak hours,” he said.
President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) Javaid Ahmad Tenga said they are receiving SOS calls from various industrialists about the impact of poor electricity supply.
“Handicraft artisans and dealers have been constantly telling us about the suffering of the sector due to the current power crisis. The tourism sector has also started facing problems now. There is a massive drop in production by industries currently,” he told KNO.
Tenga said the lack of proper electricity was leading to cost escalation for the industries. “Everything currently relies on generators, which is leading to the cost escalation for the industrialists. We recently approached the government with the demand to ensure uninterrupted power supply, but nothing has happened so far,” he said.
The KCCI has demanded the establishment of a fact-finding committee to delve into the underlying factors responsible for the ongoing power crisis in Kashmir. (KNO)
