Hike not an excuse for manufacturers to raise prices - Mahdzir

A power tariff hike of 16 per cent for industries should not be used as an excuse for industrialists to arbitrarily raise the prices of their products.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the rate was not burdensome because Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had new tariff rates based on the industrial categories.

"For small and medium-scale industries, we won't impose the 16 per cent increase," he told reporters at the closing of a Smart Programme organised by Universiti Tenaga Nasional at Pendang Lake Resort, here, Sunday.

Meanwhile, Mahdzir said power supply in Pahang had been fully restored when the operations of 150 substations resumed, after supply was disrupted by floods in the state early this month.

He said checks in Pekan, Pahang on Dec 18, showed that TNB had provided power supply to areas affected by the floods.

"TNB had shut power supply during the floods for safey reason and provided 40 generators at a cost of over RM3 million at the flood relief centres in Pahang for a two-week period," he added.