Kerala

Green flag for deferring fixed electricity payments for six months

The Kerala government has said the industry can defer the payment of fixed electricity charges for a period of six months. This was announced by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, after tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran discussed the matter with the state electricity board (KSEB) chairman.

The request from the trade was for waiver of fixed charges. But since the fixed charge is for contracted demand, KSEB has to make this payment to the suppliers. “We have informed KSEB that unlike industries, the recovery of the hotels and resorts in the tourism industry will be delayed as it will take time for tourists to start traveling again. So, we could request for an option for instalments for the deferred payment of fixed charges,” Kerala Tourism secretary Rani George IAS has said.

“The world is fighting COVID 19 and as all of you are aware Kerala too has taken very proactive steps from the beginning to prevent the spread of COVID 19 and has succeeded so far in preventing community spread. And the state is keeping its vigil with the preventive measures. Consequent to the lockdown and travel restrictions, tourism was the sector that was affected first and naturally would be the last to recover as tourists need to gain confidence for travel after the containment of COVID 19. Kerala Tourism too is affected and the entrepreneurs and the employees in the sector are facing a crisis which may extend for another few months,” she said.

The tourism industry has been requesting for a revival package and on the basis of the representations from the industry and assessing the situation, a proposal with short term, mid term and long term strategies was prepared and the components in the proposal are being discussed with the relevant departments.

Regarding soft loans for the employees and other loan schemes for the tourism sector, the minister is holding discussions with relevant stakeholders.

As a major contributor to the GDP of Kerala and as a sector providing employment to around 1.5 million people in Kerala, it is essential that Kerala Tourism recovers at the earliest. The government being aware of this is considering the proposals and would extend all possible support, Rani George said.