News: Mumbai headed for daily power cuts?

(IANS 03/04/2007) Mumbai - The spectre of daily power cuts looms large over India's financial and entertainment capital Mumbai, which had so far been spared the miseries of long outages rest of Maharashtra have been reeling under.

Scheduled power cuts in the megalopolis could start from Wednesday, or the next week.

The cuts seem imminent with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) asking its two bulk power suppliers, Tata Power Company (TPC) and Reliance Energy Ltd., (REL), which supply power to the city and its suburbs, that they would not be allowed to draw any more power from the state's power grid from Wednesday.

The state power board said Tuesday that the two power utilities had been told to "organise" their own supplies.

TPC supplies power in bulk to state-run Brihanmumbai Electricity and Transport Undertaking (BEST) and REL, which in turn distributes it to consumers in the megalopolis and its suburbs.

While TPC supplies 1,770 megawatts (MW) power to the city, REL pitches in with another 500 MW.

Alarmed by the TPC's quiet "overdraw" of 200 MW from the state grid to save the city from power cuts, the state government had summoned top officials of the two companies.

"The government has not taken kindly to TPC overdrawing power in recent days despite the worsening power crisis that has led to over 14 hours of power cuts in many parts of the state," said Maharashtra energy department secretary Rahul Asthana.

"We have asked TPC and REL to arrange additional supplies to overcome the demand-supply gap, which currently stands at 150MW-200 MW daily," Asthana told IANS Tuesday.

"We have asked them to submit their plans to meet the crisis and asked them to scout the market for more electricity to counter the rising demand during the peak summer months."

Mumbai needs 2,600 MW of power daily, while the present supply is only 2,200 MW. TPC buys about 210 MW from outside the state.

Without giving a guarantee either against power cuts or procurement of additional power to make up the shortfall, TPC managing director Prasad Menon Tuesday hinted that Mumbai may experience load-shedding of different durations in different parts of the city during the coming days.

"We would be able to buy just 210 MW of the 360 MW that would be required to keep things in order in the city," Menon said.

"We are trying to bridge the gap between demand and supply as far as possible. But we cannot guarantee anything on securing extra power as of now."

He, however, blamed media hype about the power shortfall and the state government's deadline to strike a deal for extra power.

"We had almost finalised a deal for 150 MW. But with all this publicity, energy firms have suddenly jacked up prices to make a quick buck out of the power crisis."

MSEB sources said that TPC was overdrawing power from its grid to ensure Mumbai did not suffer from power cuts.

"Not surprising that we were forced to undertake extra load-shedding in the last few days when TPC overdrew from the state grid. Most parts of the state are already suffering nearly 14 hours load-shedding," said a senior MSEB official.

TPC incidentally pays Rs 400 crore annually to MSEB as standby charges, so that it can overdraw power from the state utilities in emergency cases.

"TPC is overdrawing far too often, which is adding to the state's power woes," the MSEB official added.

Maharashtra's daily demand of power is 15,000 MW. With a daily shortfall of over 4,800 MW, it is presently drawing 700 MW of power from outside the state.

Except for Mumbai and its western suburbs, the rest of the state, including the satellite city of Navi Mumbai, is experiencing daily power cuts ranging between 4-14 hours.