December 28: The Nepal Electricity Authority has cut off power supply to nine industries for defaulting the payment of dues for the use of electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines.

The industrialists whose lines have been cut complained that they are suffering losses worth millions of rupees daily. They have also warned that there may be a shortage of industrial products in the market in the coming days as the dispute continues and the electricity supply remains halted.

Sahil Agarwal, chairman of Jagdamba Steel, said that the company is incurring a daily loss of around Rs 25 million after the NEA stopped the power supply.

“Our industry consumes 40 megawatts of electricity on a daily basis. We have 3,500 workers. About 2,000 tons of steel is produced daily,'' Agarwal told New Business Age.

“Steel production has stopped. If the dispute between the NEA and industrialists continues, there may be a shortage of industrial products in the future. Therefore, this dispute should be resolved soon.”

So far, the NEA has cut the lines of Jagdamba Steel, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement, Arghakhanchi Cement, Triveni Spinning Mills, Ashok Steel, Sonapur Minerals and Oil Limited, Sarvottam Cement and Laxmi Steel.

Shashikant Agarwal, the owner of Reliance Spinning Mills, says that thousands of laborers working in the industry are in trouble due to the authority's actions and the industries are facing huge financial loss every day. According to him, 3,500 workers are also working in Reliance Spinning Mills. Most of the workers have returned home after the industry was shut down due to the power cut.

He claims that Reliance is incurring losses of more than Rs 5 million a day.

“We have clearly said that we are ready to pay the bill provided that the NEA gives us the time of day (TOD) meter data. However, the NEA officials are reluctant to give the details. Either they should provide us the proof with the bill if they want us to pay the electricity tariff, or they should resume power supply to the industries," he said.

Although there is no reliable data on the daily losses in all the industries where electricity supply has been stopped, the industrialists claim that all the industries are suffering huge financial losses. Although the industrialist asked for TOD meter data, the authority is saying that it cannot provide such data.

Former Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has termed the recent development as unfortunate instead of calling it the right decision or wrong at a time when the government aims for industrialization by increasing electricity consumption.

He wrote on social networking site Facebook, "The authority should be able to refute the allegation of the industrialists that the authority has issued fake bills. Earning non-existent income by generating bills that are not in the TOD meter is wrong. After months of discussions, debates, and court proceedings, the production of cement, corrugated zinc sheets, etc, which are being exported, has come to a grinding halt. Therefore, the data of TOD meter should be made public immediately.”