Surat’s textile mills can run their evening and night shifts on grid power again. Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (DGVCL) withdrew its staggered cuts on industrial feeders, which had switched off supply from 4 pm to midnight, with immediate effect on October 23, DeshGujarat and Loktej reported. Sandesh said the distribution company acted on a direct instruction from higher authorities after industry representations reached the Secretariat and the Energy Department.
An eight-hour cut timed to the evening peak
The 4 pm to midnight window covers the hours when Gujarat’s grid is under most strain. Solar output fades after sunset while household and commercial demand climbs. Earlier this month the state recorded an all-time peak of 29,822 MW, which we reported was driven by a weak monsoon and a heavy evening load. Loktej listed lower hydropower generation after poor rainfall and weaker wind output among the pressures on supply. DeshGujarat noted that Gujarat, normally a power-surplus state, ran short because demand this month ran far above expectations.
Staggering cuts across industrial feeders let a discom shave load without darkening homes. For factories that run round the clock, it meant losing a full shift or paying for diesel.
Rs 40-50 crore spent on generators in four weeks
Textile associations put numbers on that choice. Jitu Vakharia, president of the South Gujarat Textile Processors Association, said 400 to 450 processing mills had spent an estimated Rs 40 crore to Rs 50 crore on generators over about four weeks, roughly Rs 10 lakh per mill, both outlets reported. Ashok Jirawala of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association said Surat has 45,000 to 48,000 working weaving units and claimed the supply chain was losing Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore a day during the cuts. Neither figure has been independently audited; they are the industry’s own estimates.
The timing made the cuts harder to absorb. Mills were trying to clear Diwali orders, and the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry had asked authorities to reconsider the schedule so units could finish dispatches. Workers feel it too: festival wages and bonuses depend on mills completing those orders. Our earlier report on Surat’s embroidery workers shows how thin margins already are in that part of the chain.
Demand has not fallen
The rollback restores supply but leaves the underlying shortage in place. DGVCL has not published a revised load plan, and Connect Gujarat reported that units will keep watching supply through the festival weeks while demand stays high. If the evening deficit returns, the state will need to buy more power or find another place to cut.
Sources: DeshGujarat, Loktej, Sandesh, Connect Gujarat
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.