Blackouts may become the norm in Maharashtra if power companies fail to step up generation after the monsoon season, further sapping the Congress-NCP government that’s battling a buoyant BJP ahead of assembly elections this year.
The state government ordered an inquiry on Wednesday after rare outages in Mumbai a day earlier, bringing under the scanner Tata Power and state-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) who have been blaming each other over the situation.
Tata said the load-shedding was the result of a technical glitch at its Trombay station and the situation may recur if local electricity generation was not allowed to increase.
Power generation firms like Adani, Tata and Indiabulls slashed production after the Supreme Court observed last week that the companies couldn't seek a hike in tariff to compensate for an increase in price of imported coal.
“Their argument is that the Centre has imposed high taxes on lifting coal. So, they will not buy coal at high cost. We get 60% of coal from the Centre," said chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Power requirement in the state is relatively low because of the ongoing rains but with the monsoon drawing to a close and the festive season ahead demand is expected to shoot up substantially.
{{/usCountry}}Power requirement in the state is relatively low because of the ongoing rains but with the monsoon drawing to a close and the festive season ahead demand is expected to shoot up substantially.
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