MSMEs still waiting for power tariff to come down

New Delhi, May 24 (KNN) The power ministry's move to channel procurement of short-term power by states through reverse auction on its e-bidding platform appears to be paying off.

The first round of bidding on the DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) portal has seen tariffs go down by more than a third from a year-ago. Uttarakhand, Kerala, Bihar and private discom Torrent Power kicked off the DEEP bidding process, with Kerala discovering a price of Rs 3.14 per unit, the lowest for May in the slot of the day, against Rs 4.70 per unit paid for roundthe-clock supplies a year ago. The power ministry's move to channel procurement of short-term power by states through reverse auction on its e-bidding platform appears to be paying off.

The first round of bidding on the DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) portal has seen tariffs go down by more than a third from a year-ago. Uttarakhand, Kerala, Bihar and private discom Torrent Power kicked off the DEEP bidding process, with Kerala discovering a price of Rs 3.14 per unit, the lowest for May in the slot of the day, against Rs 4.70 per unit paid for roundthe-clock supplies a year ago.power ministry has taken various initiatives like channel procurement of short-term power by states through reverse auction on its e-bidding platform  and more to cut down power tariff.

However, some MSMEs associations have said that the benefits of the initiatives are yet to be passed on to the industry.

KNN spoke to the industry bodies in Bihar and Kerala who said the rate cut has not passed on to the industry.

The President of Bihar Industries Association (BIA), Ram Lall Khetan said, “We have not received any rate cut benefit in power tariff. Even the power cuts are very frequent.”

He said, “We face the problem of tripping which hampers the industry a lot.”

“If tripping happens for two minutes then it means we have to bear the manufacturing loss of half an hour,” said Khetan.

He alleged that industries don’t get quality power supply whereas they have to pay Rs six per unit for power.

On the other hand, KK Ramesh, General Secretary, Kerala State Small Industries Association (KSSIA) told KNN, “Our rates have not gone down.”

He said “We don’t face any electricity problem here and pay a cost of Rs. 3.50 per unit for the electricity.”

He said that except in monsoon, power supply is usually uninterrupted for the industry.

Meanwhile, the first e-Bidding process through recently launched DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding Portal for Short term power procurement has been concluded for the State of Uttarakhand and Kerala on 29.04.2016, for Torrent Power Ltd. on 03.05.2016 and for State of Bihar on 09.05.2016. 

Secretary (Power) P K Pujari, while congratulating States of Uttarakhand, Kerala Bihar and Torrent Power for early adoption of the e-bidding portal, recently stated that the process has resulted in substantial savings as the prices discovered through e-bidding are significantly lower than the prices at which power was procured during the similar period in the last year. 

The first round of bidding on the DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) portal has seen tariffs go down by more than a third from a year-ago. Uttarakhand, Kerala, Bihar and private discom Torrent Power kicked off the DEEP bidding process, with Kerala discovering a price of Rs 3.14 per unit, the lowest for May in the slot of the day, against Rs 4.70 per unit paid for round the-clock supplies a year ago. (KNN Bureau)