Poor supply, low voltage pull the plug on Noida industries

Fed up with low voltage and poor supply over the past several weeks, the city’s entrepreneurs have taken the power crisis issue to the power department.

Noida entrepreneurs association (NEA) has written to the electricity department of Uttar Pradesh government to provide adequate power to industries to save them from production losses.

According to NEA, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) – the power distribution agency-- has to maintain a minimum supply of 220 volts but, in the past several weeks, it has gone down to 140 volts.

“There is no point in a supply as low as 140 volts as it amounts to a breakdown of supply. We have to depend on alternate sources. This problem has been affecting thousands of small entrepreneurs in the area,” said Vipin Malhan, NEA president.

The NEA said in Noida, the basic infrastructure for power supply has been built by the Noida authority and was later transferred to UPPCL for maintenance.

“Over 8,000 industrial units in Noida have power connections. Big consumers (above 25 KVA) have installed their own transformers at their own expense while small consumers are given supply through UPPCL transformers,” Malhan said.

The NEA in its letter has mentioned that in some places, the UPPCL has not installed transformers of the required capacity and, hence, the voltage is not being maintained.

“Low voltage causes a breakdown in the machinery and production cannot take place. This spells double the loss to small consumers. Now, after repeated complaints, the responsibility of installing additional transformers is being put on Noida authority. This passing the buck is making us suffer,” said Harish Joneja, general secretary, NEA.

The NEA said that under pressure from the entrepreneurs, the UPPCL has asked the consumers of above 10 KVA to install their own transformers and each such transformer costs Rs 2 lakh.

Mukul Singhal, superintending engineer UPPCL, Noida, said, “The power situation is not as bad as is being projected. Yes, there is a transformer shortage and we are trying to resolve that. We have requested our department to provide us transformers after the Noida authority refused to provide them.”

Hom Singh Yadav, chief maintenance engineer, Noida authority, said, “UPPCL should arrange transformers on its own.”