Chandigarh, Jul 6 (KNN) The Punjab government has asked the large scale industries to shut down operations for another three days, till July 10, due to power shortage in the state.

The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Monday, issued the orders for extending the power restrictions on large scale industries, using over 100 KW of load, in Central, North and West zones.

The continuous supply industry has also been asked to use just 50 per cent of the sanctioned load / contracted load, from July 8 to July 18. These units are so far allowed to use just 30 per cent of the contracted load.

“For a unit having 50 workers, the per day loss is estimated at Rs 35,000. For how long can we sustain amid such losses. Is the economy to be sacrificed at the altar of vote bank politics?” questions Badish Jindal, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association.

''Many industries are forced to flout the orders as the losses for closing the industry for three days are more than the penalties imposed by PSPCL for violating these closing orders,'' he added.