PANJIM: The industrialists at the Verna industrial estate have started facing power outages, affecting their production of the day and increasing cost of production.
Last year, the Electricity department experienced a power shortage, thereby compelling the government to resort to daily load shedding
for industries.
Verna Industries Association (VIA) President Pradeep Da Costa said that they have been facing power cuts since the last two weeks due to overdrawing of power against the quantity of power available.
“During summer season, power consumption by domestic consumers increases phenomenally due to the use of air-conditioners. The Electricity department is resorting to power shedding in a staggered manner and is intimating us about the shutdown one-hour in advance,” Da Costa said.
Goa Small Industries Association (GSIA) president Damodar Kochkar since the beginning of this month, the Electricity department has started power restrictions in the industrial estate thereby affecting the production.
“Though load restriction is done in a staggered manner, the incoming power supply was also affected on Tuesday. Power outages are affecting production while large scale industries are using generators, which is increasing the cost of production,” Kochkar said.
Industrialist and former Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) State president Blaise Costabir said that power restrictions have been started by the electricity department in industrial areas due to increasing temperature since the last few days.
“Industries are hit as uninterrupted power is supplied to domestic consumers from the same feeders. The department has started the work of setting up a new transformer at Verna. We hope that the situation will improve after its commissioning,” Costabir said.
Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar and executive engineer Muzawar were not available despite efforts to contact them.