T he Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI), the apex trade body of Karnataka industry is seeking cancellation of license to the five Electricity Companies (ESCOMs), for what it calls its wayward manner and monetary scandal. While the trade body-electricity company tiff continues, it has assumed a proxy political war with the government.
The FKCCI blames politicians of making a mess of power production and distribution which is pivotal to economic growth. MG Prabhakar, chairman of FKCCI’s Energy Committee and member of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Committee (KERC), speaks to DNA on the power woes industry and commerce face today.
The FKCCI has sought cancellation of licenses to ESCOMs and has ordered an investigation into their working. Why?
They are resorting to scheduled and unscheduled load-shedding which is illegal. The government has no legal right to impose power cut except in extreme emergency situation. That authority to decide on power cuts rests with the KERC. The industry is a major revenue earner for the exchequer and treating it shabbily is unpardonable. We are suffering heavy losses which is finally social and economical loss too.
What is the present power supply scenario in industry? Which industry suffers most?
Erratic power supply despite a bountiful monsoon is killing us. Just when we are recovering from recessional shock, the government is pushing us into another crisis. A powercut of about two to three hours in Bangalore and 10-12 hours in the rest of the state has become the order of the day. It’s a shame. And, the ESCOMs discriminatory deal for rural Karnataka is violative of equal rights. The small scale industries (KASSIA) alone have calculated a loss of Rs20 crore everyday because of unreliable power supply.
What about setting up your own captive power plants?
We have no fuel except diesel and the cost of production would be three times more than the normal cost. If gas was made available, it would be a different story. We don’t see light at the end of the tunnel. Political interference in power generation has brought the situation to a hopeless state.
You accuse ESCOMs of financial scandal on irrigation pumps. How big is the scandal?
I can’t tell you off-hand but it is a fact that the ESCOMs have been claiming subsidy for 18 lakh irrigation pump (IP) sets which comes to some Rs50 crore while the total number of pumps, to our knowledge, is only about 10 lakhs. For all this we want an inquiry committee appointed.
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