Raipur (Chhattisgarh) Mini Steel Plant Association is on indefinite strike and closed its production from yesterday. The association is demanding to reduce power tariff and other taxes.
Chhattisgarh has a 9 MnT pa sponge capacity and 4 MnT of finish long capacity. There are over 150 furnace units in the state. In Raipur, about 130 units are operational under Mini Steel Plant Association (MSP). These units produce ingot, billet, rebar, structure and other finished steel products and supply the materials across the country. They also export it to nearby countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In the starting of current month, the plant owners had meeting with various departments of Chhattisgarh government, including electricity board. However, SteelMint learnt that manufacturers didn’t receive any satisfactory response from the officials, thus decided to close their units in order to protest against high power tariff.
Demands of manufacturers
1. To reduce power tariff charge from present INR 06.19/unit to INR 04.00/unit.
2. Reduce CST from present 2% to 1%. It will reduce cost to supply steel to nearby states.
3. Required permission to buy power from open access. At present, the permission is only to utilize power supplied from government.
4. Separate VCA charges (Variable Cost Adjustment) as earlier, the government recently include it in the power tariff charges.
5. Do not take any charges from the oldest units, if they are willing to change their electricity supply code.
Industrial power tariff charges in nearby states
| States | Current Power Tariff in INR/unit |
| Jharkhand | 3.80-4.00 |
| West Bengal | 4.50-5.00 |
| Odisha | 5.50-6.00 |
| Raigarh (Jindal supply Punjipatra) | 4.10 |
| Uttarakhand | 4.10-4.50 |
| Vidarbha Maharashtra | 5.50-6.00 |
| Jalna Maharashtra | 5.50-6.00 |
| Chhattisgarh | 5.75-6.20 |
Source: SteelMint Research
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