Gurugram, June 30 (KNN) The Gurugram based micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a letter to the state government have expressed their inability to comply with the directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) about ban on operation of diesel DG sets.

Industrialists in the letter have urged the state government to allow the use of diesel generators (DG) for backup till power discoms ensure 24X7 power supply to industries.

Ashok Kohli, president of the Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar on Thursday said, “The ban on DG sets will force MSMEs to replace DG sets with PNG ones, which will cause loss of production and manpower hours. Cost of replacement or retrofitting for dual fuel use, which would at best be an interim arrangement entailing extra costs in the long run, is too high. It is not affordable by any means.”

Industry associations have pointed out that the units are not in a position to undertake such a huge expenditure at the cost of survival, reported TOI.

“The overall cost of replacement or conversion to PNG would be humongous. Also, larger units would require higher capacity PNG gensets which would have to be imported, as they are not being manufactured indigenously,”Kohli said.

Deepak Maini, a member of the Federation of Indian Industry, said small industries which have a turnover of Rs 1-2 crore cannot spend Rs 20 lakh on replacing DG sets.

“The government should support industries in upgrading DG sets to PNG by providing subsidies,” he said, adding that in the past few years, PNG rates have gone up and there is a wait of five to six months to get a PNG connection.  (KNN Bureau)