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KOCHI, Dec. 26

THE Save Indal Action Council (SIAC) has sought the intervention of the State Government to avert closing down of Indal's unit at nearby Eloor.

The company management has already served a notice to Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to disconnect the power supply to the factory from January 1.

The unit absorbs 25 MW of power for operating the plant. Indal is one of the major consumers of KSEB with a monthly power bill of Rs 6.5 crore, SIAC sources said.

The aluminium price in the global market is Rs 75,000 per tonne. But the production cost of aluminium here stands at Rs 89,500 per tonne following the recent power tariff increase, which has resulted in the company making a loss of Rs 14,500 per tonne, they added.

When the power tariff was raised in 1998, the company had shut down the first smelter plant rendering 400 workers jobless.

With this, KSEB lost Rs 3.7 crore per month as the power intake of this unit was 17 MW.

Successive Governments since then had raised the power charges on several occasions, bringing the total hike to 140 per cent.

Currently, the power tariff is Rs 3.40 per unit. In this highly power-intensive plant, 17 units of power is needed to produce one kg of aluminium, thus accounting for 20 million units to produce 1,200 tonnes of aluminium per month.

Therefore, the additional burden towards power cost since the hike from October 1, 2001 has been Rs 1 crore per month, the sources said.

Indal's contribution to KSEB's annual revenue is Rs 123 crore, according to trade union leaders. "The Government's attitude would only deprive the KSEB of a big customer."

They urged the Government to intervene immediately lest the unit is totally shut down rendering around 1,000 workers jobless.

They also said that the Government should grant permission to the project to make available power from Power Trading Corporation.

"Besides, the company management must come forward to set up a captive power plant for which the Government should grant the required permission."

Till the above- mentioned proposals are translated into reality, power should be supplied to the company at a concession rate as assured in the tariff order, they added.

All trade union leaders, irrespective of different political affiliations and ideologies, have decided to launch a mass agitation if the Government fails to resolve the crisis.

Any failure on the part of the Government would drive Indal to the same fate as that of Mavoor Rayons, they added.

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