Considering the steep reduction in fuel meant for power generation, the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) has urged the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to reduce the power tariff. In a statement SIMA has said that Tamil Nadu was facing acute power shortage since 2008 and therefore, power cost was exorbitant in the absence of grid power. Hence, the textile industry, a power intensive sector, has been undergoing severe financial stress due to high cost power.

According to SIMA, the power subsidy, interest subsidy and various other incentives offered by all the major cotton growing states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan added fuel to the situation and brought the new investments to a grinding halt.

M Senthilkumar, Chairman, SIMA says, after long battle, Tamil Nadu has now become a power surplus state and the tariff of power available in the open market is quite competitive. In view of this said that the power tariff should be reduced now. While applauding the government's move to make state a power surplus, the SIMA chairman stated that the government could mitigate the power shortage in spite of steep increase of over 33 per cent power consumption in the state by expediting the projects in the pipeline, overcoming bottlenecks in the existing power plants and also establishing new power plants on a fast tract mode.