Pune: Chakan MIDC Industries Plagued by Frequent Power Cuts, Seeking Urgent Solutions
Chakan, 13th June 2024: The Chakan Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has been plagued by frequent power cuts, significantly impacting businesses, especially during the summer. Many companies have faced financial losses due to unplanned shutdowns. Business owners have approached officials from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) to address the issue.
Senior MSEDCL officials have committed to improving the situation. In Chakan MIDC, power cuts are frequent and often occur without prior notice. Even when MSEDCL conducts maintenance work, companies are not informed in advance, causing abrupt halts in their operations. The summer season has seen an increase in these outages, further affecting the companies.
The Federation of Chakan Industries recently met with MSEDCL officials to discuss these issues. The meeting included Regional Director Ankush Nale, Superintending Engineer Yuvraj Jarag, Federation Secretary Dilip Batwal, Director Manoj Bansal, and representatives from 70 companies. During the meeting, the entrepreneurs expressed their frustrations, citing the local MSEDCL authorities’ lack of responsiveness to the increasing power outages.
In response, Regional Director Ankush Nale reprimanded the local authorities and assured that maintenance work in Chakan would be timely, promising an uninterrupted power supply to the industries.
Entrepreneurs’ problems will soon find relief as efforts are underway to improve electricity services in Maharashtra, despite it having the highest rates in the country. Frequent power outages have halted production and caused machinery malfunctions due to fluctuating power supply pressures. This has led to challenges in meeting wage payments and even resulted in canceled work orders due to reduced production, exacerbating financial losses for many industries.
The problems for entrepreneurs persist:
– Electricity for industries in Maharashtra is charged at the highest rates in the country.
– Production is halted due to frequent power outages.
– Machinery malfunctions due to fluctuating power supply pressures.
– Payment of wages to workers is a challenge even during work closures.
– Work orders are frequently canceled due to reduced production.
– Many industries are in crisis due to mounting financial losses.
Rajendra Pawar, Chief Engineer of MSEDCL, highlighted, “There are 113,000 consumers in the Chakan sub-division, including approximately 7,800 high and low-pressure industries in the Chakan industrial estate. MSEDCL is actively working to enhance service delivery to these industries.”
Dilip Batwal, Secretary of the Federation of Chakan Industries, commented, “The inadequacies in infrastructure are compounding the issues faced by industries in Chakan. Electricity supply interruptions continue to inflict losses on companies. Maharashtra imposes the highest electricity rates on industries across the country.”
