A delegation of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) consisting of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA), MIDC Industries Association (MIA) Hingna, Butibori Manufacturers Association (BMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vidarbha Region, Kalmeshwar Industries Association (KIA), Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DICCI) Vidarbha Chapter and Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB) Nagpur met with Dr. Nitin Raut, Minister for Energy, Government of Maharashtra at Nagpur recently (on 7th June).
JCC presented a detailed memorandum to Dr. Raut regarding sudden stopping of tariff incentives being provided to Vidarbha, Marathwada Uttar Maharashtra, D & D+ areas of Maharashtra. The members of JCC drew the Minister’s attention towards sudden stoppage in incentives in electric bills which come as a huge shock to the industrialists and has further dented the confidence of the industrial fraternity during this Pandemic time.
During the meeting, Dr. Raut clarified that the subsidy of Rs.1200 Cr is withheld till the new policy & the restructuring of the policy will be finalized within the one month period. He said the subsidy will be released after restructuring the new policy along with backlogs. The Energy Minister has given instructions to the billing department to mention this note in the energy bills or send messages to the consumers or any other way of communication. Also he gave assurance that 1200 Cr amount will be spent on Vidharbha, Marathwada & Other backward regions only and additional amount will be sanctioned for other regions if required. Also he informed that a Committee is already formed for the restructuring and its first meeting is also scheduled for 8th Jun 2021. He requested JCC to send suggestions for carrying out the restructuring scheme in a logical manner so that this amount lasts for year around.
Immediately, VIA & JCC responded by giving their valuable inputs for the same, copy of which has already been forwarded to the Hon. Minister. The important suggestions are as follows: Putting a Cap per month per Consumer, so that budgeted amount of Rs. 1200 cr can last for whole year, Scheme to be finalized before the billing of Jun 2021with revised scheme to implemented with retrospective effect from 1st April 2021, Separate fund to be provided by GOM for giving 75 paise for new industries & expansion as envisaged in circulars issued earlier. FAC incentive to be clubbed with the main incentive policy as FAC charges have become Zero, Restructuring of various slabs of incentives to be done due to withdrawal of 7% Power factor incentive by MERC, Benefit for MSME to be increased so that MSME’s can garner higher share in the total incentive scheme, 11 & 33 KV Connection to be merged and have same benefit as Wheeling charges for both the levels have become same and Additional Amount of Rs. 300 cr should be provided.
Ravindra Thakare, District Collector of Nagpur District, Radhakrishnan B, Municipal Commissioner, Nagpur, Suresh Rathi, President – VIA, Pradeep Khandelwal, President – BMA, Ravleen Singh Khurana, President – Laghu Udyog Bharti, Nishchay Shelke, President – DICCI Vidarbha Chapter, Rakesh Surana, President – VPIA, Prashant Mohota, Chairman – VIA Energy Forum; Rajendra Goenka, Pravin Tapadia, Gaurav Sarda, Shashikant Kotharkar, Shrikant Dhondrikar were prominently present.
