Factories bearing the brunt of load-shedding - Having to put up with a loss of over Rs 10 million every day

Factories bearing the brunt of load-shedding - Having to put up with a loss of over Rs 10 million every day
Himalayan Times, 5-Jan-08

Some five hundred factories in the Morang-Sunsari corridor area are facing a hard time after the Nepal Electric Authority imposed 13 hours of load-shedding a day.

According to the industrial organisations here, load-shedding has caused the factories to lose more than Rs 10 million a day.

The factories are having trouble after India reduced 50 MW supply of electricity from Kataiya Birpur of Bihar from Thursday.

Central member of Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), Kishor Pradhan, has urged the NEA to make a detailed schedule of load-shedding to lessen the loss the factories are bearing now.

Load-shedding has hit dozens of jute mills, plastic factories, rolling mills and wire industries here, said manager of Swostic Jute Mill and central member of FNCCI, Champalal Rathi, adding that the main cause of the loss is that the load-shedding has been imposed irregularly. He said that the factories would be forced to gradually close down.

Deputy Director of Nepal Electricity Authority of Regional Directorate (NEARD), Tanka Prasad Shrestha, said the irregular supply has been caused by the shortage of electricity and NEA would soon make a schedule for the load- shedding.

The demand for electricity in the eastern region is 120 MW, while the electricity demand in the Sunsari-Morang corridor only is 40 MW. A total of 87 MW electricity has been supplied here from the hydro power of Multifuel Khola and Hydropower of Bansbari in India.

The factories are facing a hard time with only 33 MW supply of electricity now.