CHENNAI: Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami denounced the Tamil Nadu government for hiking the electricity tariff that affects the life and livelihood of powerloom weavers and garment manufacturers and said the increase in electricity tariff destabilised the industrial sector, particularly open end spinning mills, in the state.

He demanded the TN government to immediately call for a meeting with powerloom and textile manufacturers associations for a talk to end the ongoing strike.

Powerloom and textile manufacturers in Tirupur and Coimbatore district announced a 20 days strike, starting from November 5. This would have an impact on the lives of the several lakhs of workers amidst the Deepavali festival.

It "pains me" to see the labourers were not in position to celebrate the festival with their families due to the ongoing strike, said Palaniswami in a statement issued on Tuesday.

He demanded the government to hold talks with the representatives of the sector to end the strike at the earliest. He demanded the government to take concrete measures to protect the sector.

Coming down heavily on the DMK government, Palaniswami said the electricity tariff has increased manifold since DMK came to power and compared the power tariff between the previous AIADMK regime and the present DMK regime.

He noted that Rs 6.35 was charged per unit for high tension in the AIADMK government. Now, it has been fixed Rs 6.90 for the same. Similarly, the demand charge for 1 KW was Rs 350 in the AIADMK regime as against Rs 562 in the DMK regime.

The present dispensation has increased the power tariff manifold for small industries and powerloom units, besides empowering the TN Electricity Regulatory Commission to revise the tariff.

Textile sector which is hit due to the hike of electricity tariff is now in defunct state. The tariff is revised for the second time by the DMK regime in July, the opposition leader noted.