Power cuts for industries on hold, but for how long?

In a major relief to industries, the state power distribution utility, citing improved electricity supply, has rolled back the weekly power cut industries were facing.A senior energy department official said that the 16 hours of staggering (ie scheduled power cuts) which was in place for industries was withdrawn earlier this month by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited “until further orders” due to a reduced demand and supply gap.The official added that the power scenario had shown improvement due to a fall in temperatures and increased availability of electricity.It’s good news for common consumers too. The demand was around 16,700MW and the supply over 13,000MW, but a large part of the deficit was met by demand side management schemes. Hence, load-shedding was carried out for just 1,000-1,500MW across the state.However, SL Patil, secretary general of the Thane Belapur Industrial Association, pointed out that though the staggering has been withdrawn, industries are unable to plan their operations and production as there is no guarantee on whether it will resume or has been withdrawn for good. Patil, who is also a consumer representative in the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, stressed for round-the-clock power for industries, and added that staggering power supply resulted in their business schedules, production and export orders being adversely affected.Maharashtra has around 12,000 industrial consumers who account for 45% of the total power demand. Moreover, these industrial and commercial consumers also cross-subsidise the smaller consumers, like those from the domestic and agricultural sector. The cross-subsidy amounts to around Rs5,500 crore annually.The staggering of electricity for industries has been in place ever since the state was formed on May 1, 1960, with industries facing power cuts to enable the maintenance of machinery and electrical systems. And even though maintenance-free machines and equipment were pressed into operation later on, the cuts continued, as lack of capacity addition in the power generation sector in the 1990s ensured a power deficit in the state. Two years ago, power supply for industries was staggered for 48 hours due to a massive demand-supply gap of over 5,500MW. In July 2011, power cut for industries, which had by then been brought down to eight hours from the previous 16, was withdrawn, but a 16-hour cut was introduced again in October due to a coal supply crisis.