The Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore will see another hike in power tariff this year and the industry associations plan to appeal to the newly-formed government to reduce the power charges.

According to M. Karthikeyan, president of the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, there have been hikes for four consecutive years now. The fixed charges that were ₹30 a KW for the MSMEs were increased to ₹150 in 2022, ₹153 in 2023, ₹160 in 2024 and ₹165 last year. There will be an increase this year too because of the order of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission given in 2021 that there will be an annual increase for five years.

J. James, president of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises, said the prices, consumption charges and fixed charges, will increase this year too unless the new government decides to absorb the hike. “However, we will appeal to the government to bring down the charges for the MSMEs,” he said.

For the MSMEs in the western districts, the hike in power charges every year for the last four years has increased the production cost and they have made repeated representations to the government demanding reduction of charges.