Coimbatore, March 25 - The hue and cry over frequent disruption in power supply and unscheduled cuts is no surprise, come summer. But the solvent extractors state that the situation is very badthis year compared to the last.
Members of the Solvent Extractors Association of India met in Coimbatore to review the current scenario and suggest action to rejuvenate the solvent extraction and vegetable oil industry.
The Association President, Mr Ashok Sethia, said the power situation in Tamil Nadu was appalling. “Load shedding during summer months is not unusual. But this year, the situation is turning worse. Load restriction, peak hour restriction, unscheduled cuts and frequent tripping of power is affecting production schedule and product quality. We have appealed to the State Electricity Board to ensure uninterrupted supply to the solvent extracting units and refineries.”
The association's State President and Managing Director of Erode-headquartered SKM Animal Feeds and Edible Oils, Dr M. Chandrasekar, said the refineries in Tamil Nadu faced a minimum of four times cut within a shift of eight hours. “Solvent extracting units and refineries run on vacuum. So when the power trips it affects the quality of the oil,” he said.
The acute shortage in power supply is compelling the units to cut down capacity utilisation levels drastically. “Most units are operating only at around 40 per cent of their capacity,” Mr Sethia said.
The steep drop in plant utilisation levels has led to a demand-supply gap. To bridge this gap, the country imports huge quantities of edible oil. “We imported 86 lakh tonnes (lt) of edible oil between November 2008 and October 2009, valued at Rs 28,000 cr. It is expected to touch 90 lt this year,” he said.
The association is also pleading with the Government for including soyabean in the list of oil crop and declaring oil palm as plantation crop.
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