On December 14, over two lakh industrial units and traders in Maharashtra will observe `Black Day' by switching off their power from 11 am to 12 noon and between 7.30 pm to 8 pm as the power tariff has been hiked by over 100 per cent in the last two years by the present BJP-Sena government.

``Various industry organisations have already formed an apex co-ordination committee to jointly fight against the issue and seeks the support of common man to fight the current BJP-Sena government which wants to subsidise the farmers at the cost of industrial and urban customers,'' says K Podar president, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce &Industry.

Among the 100-odd organisations, representing 200,000 units, which are spearheading the agitation are Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC), the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Marathwada Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Thane Belapur Industries Association, Thane Small Scale Industries Association, Sholapur Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Manufacturers' Association of Mahad, Tarapur, Marathwada, Vidharbha, Patalganga and Rasayani.

During the shut-down periods, the continuous process industries will switch on to their captive power plants. But the State government is again trying to put a fresh tax on captive power generation making the power plants uneconomical, he said. Besides, representatives of trade and industry in every district would meet the collectors and submit memoranda demanding withdrawal of the hike, Podar added.

Podar said the need to take care of the high cost of electricity that would be supplied by Enron's Dabhol power plant has necessitated the present hike intariff. ``We are going to study the power purchase agreement signed by the BJP-Sena government with Enron,'' he said. The organisation believes that the electricity board should immediately implement the Rajadhaksya committee report which has recommended privatisation of transmission and distribution (T&D).

``The government should also try to reduce the T&D losses which is at an alarmingly high level of 20 per cent,'' Podar said, adding, ``besides, the government should take care of MSEB's high debt and corruption. Especially under the present circumstances where the industry is severely hit by recession, burden of higher tariff can not be borne by either the common man or industrial sector.''

The apex committee is also demanding that the Sena chief Bal Thackeray's plans regarding free electricity to the farmers should be withdrawn as the industries can not afford any more cross-subsidies. Any revision in tariff should be planned cautiously as tariff also gets affected if there is any upward move in thefuel price, said industry analysts, adding that the recent increase in the price of naphtha will also affect the tariff.

The Thane Belapur Industries Association has already filed a case in the Mumbai High Court against MSEB's move. The case will come up for hearing on December 14. A similar case has also been filed in the Aurangabad high court. ``The changes in the present tariff structure, however, will depend on the order from the court,'' officials said.

As the industries are already paying the electricity bills as per the new tariff structure they demand that the additional amount which has already been paid should be credited. Arguing against the MSEB's decision to increase the tariff, the industry associations said that they should not pay the price of the board's inefficiency.

Industry captains believe that the financial constraints of MSEB are primarily due to its own mismanagement. ``MSEB should first collect arrears of Rs 3000 crore from its various consumers and should stop writing off theamounts,'' Podar said.