CII pushes power trading proposal to tackle load-shedding

If a power trading proposal by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works out, Pune will become the first city in the country to receive 350 million units of power this year through the the newly introduced open access system for power trading.

Under the proposal, which CII's Maharashtra unit will put before the state electricity regulatory commission soon, a group of Pune-based private companies will buy electricity from a power trading company and supply to Pune city, which is plagued by load-shedding.

The supply will be available for residential as well as commercial complexes

Pune has a shortfall of 100 mw to 110 mw and this is expected to cross 150 mw in a year. The state electricity distribution company estimates a shortfall of 350 million units for Pune this year.

"CII member companies are already supplying power from captive generation to help Pune cope with load-shedding," said Rahul Kirloskar, chairman, CII Maharashtra Council. "The demand-supply gap is expected to increase this year and bridging this through captive supply may be difficult."

CII plans to bridge this gap on a no-profit-no-loss basis. CII members in Pune currently supply about 100 mw to Pune from captive diesel generation. This has enabled Pune city to tide over the power shortage.

CII state council Vice Chairman Pradeep Bhargava said, "The cost of this electricity would be recovered from end users. We will submit this proposal to the state electricity regulator soon and if things work out, this system may be functional from April."

CII is looking at players like Tata Power Trading Company, or subsidiaries of National Thermal Power Company to sign the power trade agreements as per the open access system policy.

"This system is economically viable and it can work out for any other city in the country also," Bhargava said. He estimated the cost of power purchased through such agreements at between Rs 8.50 to Rs 9.50 a unit.