The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries has requested the state government to postpone the collection of power bills, VAT, excise duties and bank instalments from all industrial units for one month.
In a representation made to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday, FAPCII representatives claimed that the industry has already lost Rs. 8,750 crore during the last 30 days of the "Sakala Janula Samme".
The loss accounts for 2.9% of the industry's annual production and 0.72% of GSDP - a major loss to the state and its economy.
The industry representative body said that its condition is "highly critical and deteriorating day by day".
Demanding an immediate, 100% restoration of power supply to the industry, FAPCCI said that the industry must be allowed to pay its power bills one month after the due date.
According to FAPCCI president V S Raju, the industry is being supplied power only for 3 days in a week with a 4-hour power cut during the peak hours of the day.
Effectively, the industry is being supplied power only for 40% of the time in a week. Therefore, it is losing 60% of its productive capacity, Raju argued.
"This has serious implications for the survival and sustainability of the industry. Many MSME units have become sick, and many are on the verge of sickness. Even medium and large units are running into financial problems," Raju said.
The FAPCCI has also requested that the payment of VAT be postponed by one month after the power has been restored by 100%.
FAPCII has also requested for postponing deadlines of payments of excise duties and bank instalments. (INN)