’Zero power cut promise is Dubious’

Power experts say Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission does not have proper infrastructure to make good its promise

'Zero power cut promise is Dubious'

Power experts say Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission does not have proper infrastructure to make good its promise

On November 5, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) will hear out Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited's claim that it would rid the city of constant load shedding if allowed to source power on its own, instead of buying from Tata Power at exorbitant rates.

The MSEDCL says it will supply uninterrupted power to the city, where one to three hour power cuts are a daily occurrence. The company has also assured that the electricity will be supplied at a cheaper rate than that purchased from Tata Power.

Power experts, have however called the MSEDCL's claims far-fetched.

Speaking to MiD DAY, economist Dr Rajas Parchure, officiating director, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, said, "Even if the MSEDCL supplied power to the city directly, it would not be able to fulfill its zero-load shedding promise because the state does not have proper infrastructure to generate adequate power."

Girish Sant and Shantanu Dixit from the NGO Prayas, which monitors power generation and distribution projects, said the hearing on zero load shedding is unlikely to resolve the power problem. "Ultimately, the state needs its own source of power generation. No action has been taken by the government on the issue so far. Even the Enron project could not generate over 500 MW, when it supposed to generate over 12,000 MW," said Dixit.

SP Nagtilak, chief engineer of MSDCL, said, "We have been buying power from Tata for the last one year at 48 paise per unit, which is very costly. It would help if we are allowed to create our own sources of power," Nagtilak said.

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