Barring Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Vizag port, all other major, medium and small scale industries located in and around Visakhapatnam have been facing power shortage since the last three weeks.
VSP has a captive power unit, which caters to the needs of entire plant’s power requirement. This apart, it supplies excess power up to 50 Mw to the state grid. Vizag port, on the other hand, is purchasing some power from RCL, which was located in the port area. “We are, therefore, not facing any power shortage despite low supply from the government,” port sources said.
Production and operational activities have been affected by 10-15 per cent in all major industrial units like Coromandal Fertilizers, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels (BHPV), Hindustan Zinc and Andhra Petrochemicals. Industries, which are operating furnaces, are the worst hit due the power cuts, said Krishina Rao, director, Steel Exchange India Limited, said.
Medium-scale steel and cement units are also incurring loses as they are not in a position to use generators, he said. In the small scale sector, production has dropped 40-50 per cent due to power cuts.
In the software sector, it’s the small units that are mostly affected. “Despite the earlier government orders, the Eastern Power Distribution Company is implementing power cuts. Apart from imposing a three-hour cut daily, there is no power for the whole day in a week,” said Pullela Sastry, past president, Visakha Information Technology association. Vegetable prices too have increased 15-20 percent.
However, air passenger movement has increased significantly from this region. As rail services are geting affected regularly, several upper class rail passengers are now opting for flight services. At present, there are seven flights to Hyderabad daily.
