Federation of Coimbatore Industries Association (FOCIA) goes on a hunger strike in Coimbatore, to protest the hike in electricity tariff which will increase the prices of essential commodities including raw materials, spare parts and wet grinders.
Coimbatore: A day-long hunger strike was held at Tatabad area near the Sivananda Colony electricity board office in Coimbatore yesterday on behalf of FOCIA, a federation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to protest against the hike in electricity tariff.
More than 1,000 entrepreneurs from 20 industry organisations participated in the protest. Small and medium scale industries have been completely closed due to hunger strike.
The peak hour charges for low tension electricity used by small and micro enterprises should be completely waived off. The strike and hunger strike were held to press for two major demands, namely, the cancellation of the hike in fixed charges for small and medium scale industries.
The protest is being held to draw the attention of the government. Entrepreneurs said that due to the strike, there has been a loss of Rs 30 crore in production in a single day yesterday.
The industry has urged the Tamil Nadu government to accept the demand of the entrepreneurs and roll back these fee hikes. They also said that the increase in electricity tariff will increase the prices of goods produced by 35 per cent and the impact will have a huge impact on everyone.
With orders for jobs for the industry coming down and prices of all commodities that are a basic necessity rising, tamil nadu is being forced to have more dominance of out-of-state goods and foreign goods, they said.
They said that there is a possibility of spurious products being manufactured and coming to the market and the increase in electricity tariff will reduce the number of people using electricity. Industry bodies have also urged the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to come out with a white paper on electricity bill revenue.
The BJP and a large number of farmers participated in the protest and extended their support.
More than 1,000 entrepreneurs from 20 industry organisations participated in the protest. Small and medium scale industries have been completely closed due to hunger strike.
The peak hour charges for low tension electricity used by small and micro enterprises should be completely waived off. The strike and hunger strike were held to press for two major demands, namely, the cancellation of the hike in fixed charges for small and medium scale industries.
The protest is being held to draw the attention of the government. Entrepreneurs said that due to the strike, there has been a loss of Rs 30 crore in production in a single day yesterday.
The industry has urged the Tamil Nadu government to accept the demand of the entrepreneurs and roll back these fee hikes. They also said that the increase in electricity tariff will increase the prices of goods produced by 35 per cent and the impact will have a huge impact on everyone.
With orders for jobs for the industry coming down and prices of all commodities that are a basic necessity rising, tamil nadu is being forced to have more dominance of out-of-state goods and foreign goods, they said.
They said that there is a possibility of spurious products being manufactured and coming to the market and the increase in electricity tariff will reduce the number of people using electricity. Industry bodies have also urged the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to come out with a white paper on electricity bill revenue.
The BJP and a large number of farmers participated in the protest and extended their support.