A delegation from the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to discuss key challenges facing the state’s textile industry, particularly issues related to rising power costs and energy policies impacting textile mills.
During the meeting, SIMA representatives expressed concern over the increasing electricity expenses and certain decisions concerning non-conventional energy usage, which they said were placing additional pressure on the textile sector.
The association urged the state government to take immediate measures to resolve several pending issues. Among the key demands raised were the withdrawal of network charges being collected for rooftop solar power generation in line with the High Court’s ruling, suspension of arrear collections related to deemed demand charges until the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) delivers its final verdict, and freezing demand charges at the current rate of Rs. 608 per kVA per month for the next three years.
The delegation also requested the government to allocate sufficient funding and accelerate the implementation of major textile development initiatives, including the PM MITRA Park Scheme and the Tamil Nadu Integrated Textile Policy.
The SIMA delegation included Ravi Sam, Vice Chairman of TEXPROCIL; T. Rajkumar, former chairman of SIMA; Ashwin Chandran, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI); S. Krishnakumar, Deputy Chairman of SIMA; K. Sivaraj, Vice Chairman of SIMA; and Dr. K. Selvaraju, Secretary General of SIMA.