The Indian Express: Chandigarh:
Saturday, 22 August 2020.
Power
subsidy to industry in Punjab, which costs the state Rs 1,455.18 crore
annually, favours the big industrialists as the free farm power benefits the
big farmers. A big industrialist’s benefit is almost 100 times than that of the
small industrialist from the government’s subsidy.
While
every small industrialist gets on average Rs 13,800 per year on account of
subsidy from the government, a medium industrialist gets Rs 55,600 and a large
industrialist gets Rs 13,70,800 from the government. The issue of subsidy that
burns a hole in the pocket of the state has come into focus after a group of
experts led by noted economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia decried the subsidy.
According
to information procured by The Indian Express under the RTI Act, the
concessional electricity to large-scale industry costs the state Rs 1,140.96
crore while the subsidy to small-scale industrialist costs Rs 138.7 crore and
that to medium-scale industry costs Rs 175.82 crore.
The
lion’s share of 78 per cent of subsidy given by the government goes to the
large-scale industry. As per the government’s records, there are 99,444
small-scale industrialists, who account for only 10 per cent of the power
concessions worth Rs 138.4 crore, 31,499 medium-scale industrialists get 12 per
cent of the total subsidy at Rs 175.82 crore.
The
biggest chunk of 78 per cent of the subsidy goes to 8,316 large- scale
industrialists alone. The RTI information reveals that in 2016-17, when the
SAD-BJP was in power, the government had to spend only Rs 38.49 crore on
concessional electricity supply to small-scale consumers.
The
industrial power subsidy bill increased to 38 times in the past two years. It
has now reached Rs 1,455.18 crore. In 2017-18, the bill was Rs 581.84 crore,
with Rs 425.35 crore going to large-scale industry, Rs 52.54 crore to
medium-scale and Rs 103.95 crore to small-scale industry.
Providing
subsidised power to industry was a pre-poll promise of the Congress ahead of
the 2017 Assembly election. The government rolled out the benefit in January
2018, providing every unit at a flat rate of Rs 5 to the industry.
After
having spent over Rs 3,500 crore in three years, the state’s finance department
had sought a rationalisation of the subsidy to industry. In a presentation to
the CM, the department had stated that the subsidy to the large-scale units
should be withdrawn and the subsidy to medium- and small-scale units should be
enhanced.
The
department stated that if the government enhanced the subsidy of small industry
from Rs 138 crore to Rs 220 crore and of the medium industry from Rs 175 crore
to Rs 436 crore, by withdrawing subsidy from large-scale units, it would still
save around Rs 800 crore for the state exchequer. This would also help the
small- and medium-scale units, which are in crisis.
The
government is fund-crunched, especially amid Covid-19 pandemic. However, it
does not intend to withdraw any subsidy.
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