SIMA Urges TN Govt To Revise Energy Policy For Textile Sector

Chennai, Oct 10 (KNN) The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) is urging the Tamil Nadu government to review its policies related to energy for textile industry.

S.K. Sundararaman, chairman of the association said, “Tamil Nadu has been the most attractive destination for new investments mainly due to its unique energy policies relating to wind power, open access power, third party power etc., thus making the power intensive sectors like textiles to remain competitive when compared to any other States in the country.”

“To achieve the growth, strengthening the policy initiatives already implemented by the State Government is necessitated,” he said.

“Out of 15 million spindles of over 20 years old capacity in the country, Tamil Nadu has 12 million spindles that account for nearly 60 per cent of the total capacity. Unless appropriate policies are announced or the power tariff revision rolled back to the level before September 2022, most of the textile mills in the State will be closed in a few years,” he said.

SIMA chairman added that since power cost accounts for more than 45 per cent of the manufacturing cost in the textile industry, it has become a governing factor for any textile unit to sustain its viability, and make investments in modernisation, expansion and green field projects.

The industry body pointed out that the Tangedco does not incur losses due to banking as captive wind energy consumers not only compensate all the losses on account of banking, but also provide scientific data relating to wind forecast.

The life of wind turbines generators is estimated to be 25 years for the purpose of determining the wind tariff while Tangedco has taken a decision to discontinue banking facility and is advocating repowering of old windmills, it said.

Sundararaman added that “It has become essential for the Government of Tamil Nadu to have a relook at the policies relating to the textile industry, particularly the power tariff, to sustain the survival of the industry.”  (KNN Bureau)