GURGAON: The power department is all set to come up with a new “express delivery” scheme to provide 24x7 power supply to industries, with promises for compensation in case the government fails to provide uninterrupted power supply, state’s power minister Ranjeet Chautala said on Thursday.
“A new policy will be formulated soon, and it will be implemented as a priority,” said Chautala. The announcement was made just 10-days before the deadline (October 1) for complete ban on use of diesel generators as per the CAQM order. The government claims the policy will be rolled out soon and it will be implemented on priority. The industry association, however, said that the announcement lacks substance and have continued their demands for exemption from the DG set ban for small industries. The industry bodies had previously expressed their inability to abide by the CAQM order to convert from diesel generators to CNG, citing inadequate CNG infrastructure and a high cost of conversion.
According to Ashok Kohli, president of Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar, industries only use these generators for short durations for power back-up. As such, they do not believe the impact of the generators is high enough on the AQI to justify the ban and mandated conversion for small industries.
Instead, Kohli believes the government’s focus should be on vehicles, citing the positive effect that the G20 traffic restrictions had on the region’s AQI. “This proves that vehicles are one of the major polluters and industry contribution is not much. During G20, only commercial vehicles were not allowed and pollution level was low,” said Kholi.
Since the CAQM order, industrialists have stressed on their inability to convert to CNG in compliance with the same. They have also stressed the need for the state to ensure uninterrupted power supply in order to alleviate the industries’ dependence on generators.
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