DR DIPEN Agrawal President Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade (CAMIT) recently called upon Dr Nitin Raut, State Minister for Energy, New and Renewable Energy. In the meeting, he discussed the issue of power shortage, proposed load shedding and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

Dr Agrawal said, “Poor electricity supply is widely recognised as a key impediment to firm growth and productivity. This directly effects the productivity, sale and revenue which in turn reduces States tax collections and as the losses pile up many jobs will also be lost. Uncertain power supply creates confusion and disrupts planning and strategies.”

The power outages also gives a thumbs down to new investments across sectors in trade, commerce and industry. Load shedding has effects on agriculture, from water pumps to processing of agricultural produce, Dr Agrawal said.

He requested the Minister to address the issue by analysing whether it is a power demand – supply mismatch or fuel (coal) crisis, only then the Department can arrive at a solution.

Dr Raut assured Agrawal, that there is no load shedding implemented as of now and it is expected that month of May would pass smoothly too. MSEDCL is not only buying power from private generators but also buying from power exchanges to the tune of 1500 to 1800 MW of power. He also said that the generation shortfall is mainly due shortage of coal and the same is being sorted out. Adani Power which has a PPA with State has increased the supply to 3000 MW.