The Department of Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi said in an order on Friday that free power supply to power loom units would be increased from 750 units to 1,000 units bi-monthly and the tariff would be uniform at 70 paise per unit from 1,001 units.
Power, Excise and Prohibition Minister V. Senthil Balaji tweeted that Chief Minister MK Stalin had ordered an increase in free electricity from 750 units to 1,000 units bi-monthly with effect from March 1, 2023, and 70 paise per consumption beyond that. Unit will be charged. The additional expenditure for the state government would be ₹ 53.62 crore and the total amount to be given to Tangedco would be ₹ 484.52 crore as subsidy annually.
Job working power loom units in Somanur welcomed the announcement and said that it would benefit the weavers to a great extent. Following the upward revision in tariff announced by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission last year, job working units in Somanur were on strike and were not paying the revised tariff. Reduction in tariff will now provide relief to powerloom units.