Excerpts from an interview with new Bescom Managing Director Tushar Giri Nath.

Q: How is Bescom’s financial health?
A: It is a profit making company and is in the forefront of various Escoms in the State.

Which areas require attention in Bescom?
A: We need to adopt new technology to check power theft and maintain and improve service to the consumers. Lot of automation is also needed on the distribution side to reduce the duration of outages.
Moreover, energy management has to be strengthened. The rural load management system, which has so far been extended only to one-third of Bescom area, needs to be extended to the rest of the areas. We have to ensure that rural areas get power at least for hours committed by the government.
We also want to pay special attention to servicing our customers better.  We would like to emulate the service packages in metros like Delhi and adapt them to our situation.

Q: Your future plans?
A: My first priority is to reduce the supply interruptions. Secondly, I want to pay attention to reducing both technical and commercial losses through automation, intensive energy auditing etc. Greater attention will also be given for metering of all installations, including 1.5 lakh Bhagyajyothi/Kuteerajyothi installations. Rural areas too will get adequate attention.

I also intend to outsource the billing system; at present 90 per cent of the billing is done manually.

 Q What are the major system improvements underway for Bangalore City?
A: We will begin with the automation of distribution system. Tenders will be floated for fixing a consultancy for the project in a day or two. Secondly, we are implementing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) in the City and in densely populated areas, we are laying underground or aerial bunch cables.