CPRI charging exorbitantly for short circuit testing, not in the interest of industries: IEEMA DG

New Delhi, Oct 13 (KNN) Protesting against the high charges charged for circuit testing,  Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) has written to the a letter to the Ministry of Power demanding an action in this regard.

IEEMA Director General Sunil Mishra in the letter stated that the CPRI (Central Power Research Institute) can test the transformers of ratings up to 100 MVA only.

Mishra further said that the prices charged by CPRI for short circuit testing are almost double as compared to the charges quoted by foreign laboratories like KERI/KEMA.

Citing instance, Mishra added that for 160MVA, 220 KV, (three phase Generator Transformer) foreign laboratory charges 95 lakhs whereas for the same product CPRI charges 270 lakhs.

Mishra lamented that getting tested from CPRI increases the total cost of local transformers and decreases their global competitiveness.

Also Indian labs have not been globally recognized yet .So the local manufacturers and exporters prefer testing from foreign labs which charge lower prices and are globally accepted.

According to Mishra, the testing equipment installed in CPRI are almost similar to those in KEMA and also there is low overhead in India than Europe. So, prices in India should be lower.

Voicing solution, the Director General suggested that the pricing shift based (as being  done by European labs) rather than arbitrary rates levied by CPRI.

Hence, the cost of short circuit testing must be reduced and rationalized so that the efforts made by IEEMA to find global recognition and approval for Indian labs can be fruitful, Mishra added. (KNN/AG)