silkboard - 29 October, 2009 | Bangalore | BESCOM | Power | Privatization | Reforms | Media Reports | regulation | Others | Everything else

How interesting is this news report Mumbai!? Is this an example of consumer benefitting from having choice? Worth wondering if Bengaluru will ever have choices like these?

News report says "4000 Mumbaikars may switch to R-Infra", yes, for this commodity called Power, which is in short supply in our city (2-3 hours everyday, on average, is that right).

Interesting snippets to read in there are:

"R-Infra's licence area spreads from Sion to Kanjurmarg in Central suburbs and from Mahim to Mira-Bhayander in the western suburbs of Mumbai. TPC's licence area overlaps with that of R-Infra."

So there are well defined areas for Tata Power and Reliance Infra

For effecting supply, TPC would use the existing distribution system of R-Infra," MERC stated in a recent interim order given on a petition filed by TPC.

So, the two companies are using the same distribution infrastructure. Why is TPC cheaper than R-Infra then?

However, MERC adds that the higher tariffs from R-Infra are on account of the steep rise in capital expenditure, as well as in power purchase expenses due to a failure on the part of R-Infra to enter into long-term contracts for the required quantum of power purchases.

How interesting.

There are lots of angles to this. Eagerness to supply to paying consumers may mean hinterland gets rough treatment, plus more usual complaints against lack of regulation for such open market setups.

But - would we benefit if we ahd same setup in Bengaluru. Not saying BESCOM sucks or anything like that. But there may be better arrangements.

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