Coughing up close to ₹5 crore a month on an average on electricity bills, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), which is among the major power consumers in the city, is now looking at getting some relief from the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (Bescom).
The power utility has reportedly agreed to the BMRCL’s request for a reduction in tariff to run the Namma Metro trains, and is said to have expressed its “willingness” to reduce the tariff by ₹1 per unit.
A petition has now reached Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) — which has the final authority on revising power tariff. The proposal for fare revision was made in the last week of November.
At present, BMRCL is paying ₹6 per unit. BMRCL has sub-stations located at Baiyappanahalli, Mysuru Road, Peenya, and Puttenahalli and each station draws close to 15 lakh to 23 lakh kWh of power each month.
The expenditure on procurement of electricity is one of the major components of operational costs of Namma Metro, especially with the BMRCL incurring losses for the past several years. In the previous financial year (2016-17), it had incurred a loss of ₹ 41.66 crore as against the expenditure of ₹ 172.12 crore and generated revenue of ₹ 130.46 crore.
BMRCL MD Mahendra Jain said, “BMRCL is a public utility organisation serving people without any profit motives. We have asked the Bescom to lower the tariff and KERC will take a final call on the issue. BMRCL has spent a huge sum to build sub-stations to transmit power for rail tracks. There is a need to consider special tariff for BMRCL as it serves the general public.”
Mr. Jain, however, refused to comment when asked if the benefit will be passed onto the commuters in the event of a reduction in tariff.
BMRCL has also sought relaxation from Time of Day (ToD) and on the penalty for drawing additional power during emergencies.
BMRCL has been requesting Bescom to consider lowering tariff ever since it started commercial operations on the M.G. Road-Baiyappanahalli stretch. From June this year, the power consumption has increased drastically as the metro is now operational on the 41-km route of Phase I. Each day, close to 3.5 lakh people use the metro.
KERC to take final call
A Bescom official, however, said it was up to the KERC to take a decision. “BMRCL has asked for special tariff citing that it serves the general public and cannot be treated as any other private consumer with profit motives. Following their request, we have submitted a petition before the KERC. It is up to the commission to take a final call after hearing the parities involved.”
However, Bescom maintains that the load factor of railway traction sub-stations is characteristically low. “Each 66kV installation of BMRCL feeds to a distance of approximately 40 km (20km on either side),” the official said.
Other metros
Bescom, in its analysis of power tariffs charged by its counterparts for metro projects in the petition submitted to the KERC, has said that Delhi metro procures power at ₹ 7.4 per unit; Kolkata metro at ₹ 7.93 per unit, and Mumbai metro at ₹ 9.62 per unit. In comparison, Namma Metro is getting power at a lower tariff.
A Bescom official said comparisons were made following the data provided by the power supplier in the respective States.
