The shortage of power being faced by the state has hit the local industry hard as the manufacturing cost of industrial goods has gone up by almost 30 per cent, reducing the profit margins. Besides, the frequent interruptions in the supply of electricity have impeded the production in all industries, making it difficult for them to meet production targets. Despite tall claims by the power authorities, which have been ensuring quality supply of electricity for at least 17 hours a day, the power crisis has crippled more than 3,000 local SMEs and heavy industries, which have to rely on diesel gensets to keep the manufacturing operations on, thus increasing the cost of production. According to official data, there are a total of 3,497 industrial units in the city with a capital investment of over Rs 30130.73 lakh. These industries provide employment to around 53,223 persons. These industries manufacture products, including handloom, powerloom products, shoddy and spinning cotton yarn, dyeing and processing units, agro-based industries, foundries, textile machinery, nuts and bolts which manufacture products worth Rs 96717.97 lakh. The annual export orders are also pegged at Rs 4,000 crore. However, the industrialists here are finding it hard to meet the deadline of dispatching the orders that had been booked by them early this year as the production had been affected due to the erratic power supply. Main manufacturers rued that with the productions costs up by 30 per cent due to use of diesel gensets, all that they were saving this year was their credibility in the national and international markets. The frequent outages not only impede the production, but also lead to machinery failures. The industrialists maintain that several machineries needed to go through a dry run before actual production each time these are started. “Half of the day and energy is wasted in dry runs while real production remains quite low,” said Ramesh Verma, president of Handloom Export Manufactures Association, who maintained that it was only for four hours a day that they received electricity and that also with recurrent outages. President of the North India Yarn Manufacturers Association OP Mata said the local industry was already in trouble due to competitive markets and increased imports from China which at times costs half of what the local industries spend on producing the same good. He said in order to beat Chinese products in the national as well as the international markets, the manufacturers needed reliable 24-hour power supply. The chief patron of the Panipat Export Association said it was not possible for the manufacturers to go on operating their units using diesel gensets. He said it was unbecoming of the state government that despite their depositing huge amounts for a power connection, the manufacturers were still without power. Yashpal Malik, chairman of the Federation of Small-Scale Industries and Panipat Dyers Association, said four hours of power a day was inadequate to run machineries. He said despite repeated pleas made to the authorities concerned, both the power utilities and the state government have remained indifferent to the problems being faced by them. According to the sources in the power utilities, the city of weavers, which has 70,259 consumers, needs more than 55 lakh units a day while the supply has remained less than 43 lakh units on any given day. Out of this, a major portion of is consumed by the domestic and agricultural connections while the power being supplied to industries remains quite low.