Mescom plans exchange scheme for CFL in city

Over 5 lakh households to benefit from this initiative

July 07, 2011 10:08 am | Updated 10:08 am IST - MANGALORE:

Around five lakh households in four districts whose electricity is supplied by Mescom will soon have the opportunity to exchange incandescent bulbs for the more energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps.

Executive Engineer (Works) and Superintending Engineer (Technical) V.S. Raghavendra told The Hindu that the contract was being awarded to one of two companies that had responded to the tenders for the implementation of the “Bachat Lamp Yojane”. Under the scheme, eligible households would be able to purchase up to four CFLs at a price of Rs. 15 a piece from the designated company after their records were verified by Mescom and it was ascertained that the lamps were meant only for domestic use. The households would have to hand over their 60 watt and 100 watt incandescent bulbs in exchange for the CFLs. CFLs consume less power than incandescent bulbs, resulting in significant energy savings.

Mr. Raghavendra said the GCI Power and Intact Green Services had responded when the tender was floated for the fourth time from January. The contract was likely to be awarded during the next board meeting of electricity supply company to be held in August.

The government was not likely to incur any expenditure on the implementation of the scheme whereas the companies would have many costs to consider, Mr. Raghavendra said. The company was asked to supply lamps which cost over Rs. 100 in the market at Rs. 15, inclusive of installation charges.

Because of the high expenditure involved, companies had not come forward to take up the project, which led to the tender being floated four times, Mr. Raghavendra said.

After the project was implemented, the company which was awarded the contract would prepare a detailed report on the amount of electricity saved by the project and submit it to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which would verify its claims for the award of carbon credits. The cost difference would be made up by obtaining carbon credits in the international market under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.

He said the scheme was optional and that Mescom was likely to open an outlet in each sub-division through which people could contact the company and the Revenue Department of the company would check the records.

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