Date:27/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/27/stories/2008072751560500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Scheduled power cut better than disruption: industry

V. Sridhar

‘Now we will know when power will go off, making it easier to plan industrial activity’

BANGALORE: Representatives of industry bodies met the chairman of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) on Friday to discuss the modalities of a planned and staggered power shutdown instead of unscheduled cuts that has been the norm in Bangalore for the last few weeks.

President of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry D. Muralidhar welcomed the move by Bescom to stagger the peak load shortage of about 30 per cent. “Any scheduled power cut is always better than sudden disruption of supply,” he said.

He said that although the overall energy shortage (in terms of kilo watt hours – kwhr) was only 10 per cent, the problem was of managing the peak-hour shortage.

Mr. Muralidhar said industrial units in Bangalore have been “undergoing an ordeal” in the last few weeks. He welcomed Bescom’s move to distribute a two-hour power shutdown across industrial areas of the city.

Regulation

“From now on, we will know when power will go off, making it easier for us to plan industrial activity,” he said.

T. Ramesh, who runs a small industrial unit which supplies components to a leading multinational, said the power situation had been “particularly bad in the last one week”.

He said his injection moulding unit, which employs 12 persons, had suffered six-hour power shutdowns last week compared to four hours a fortnight ago.

“On Thursday, we had to declare a holiday because there was no power from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” he said.

Output waste

Mr. Ramesh said the unscheduled power cuts not only affect production but also result in wastage. “The sudden shutdown results in partially formed components. About 5 to 8 per cent of the output is wasted.”

His unit is unable to stick to production schedules laid by the multinational company he supplies.

Tough changes

“A month ago I used to run two shifts, now even a single shift is impossible,” he said.

No generator

He does not have a generator to fall back on in case of a power shutdown.

He is not hopeful about the situation improving soon. “Even the Government says that there will be more power cuts, so how can we hope that things will improve?” he said.