Power in surplus, Bescom says no outage till 2023

Promising a bright future for Bengaluru, Bescom on Tuesday assured the people of the city that there won’t be any load-shedding until 2023, as the state is witnessing surplus power generation.

C Shikha, managing director of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, however, clarified that minor technical glitches may force the escom to disconnect power intermittently during the same period.

Taking part in an interactive meeting with the members of the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI), Shikha said, “We have achieved power surplus until 2023 due to sufficient rainfall in the last couple of years. The surplus scenario has also stopped us from mulling over any new generation projects for the time being. At least till 2023, there will not be any threat of load-shedding, except for some technical glitches.”

The power utility is now chalking out plans to sell the excess energy to various stakeholders rather than selling it to other states.

At the meeting, industrialists complained about unscheduled power cuts that have affected production in their units. Shikha assured them that she would direct engineers to coordinate with the industry bodies for the augmented supply of power throughout the day.

The Bescom chief also touched upon the issue of the uprooting of poles. “Excess rain boosts power production, but it also brings in the risk of the uprooting of poles. The issue will be addressed once the work on underground cables is completed. The laying of 6,000 km of high tension cable and 12,000 km of low tension cable will be completed in three years,” Shikha said.