Industry, real estate eligible for Pune Model, not individual house owners

GURGAON: For power-starved Gurgaon, the Pune Model of power distribution, in which bulk buyers pay Rs 1.50 extra per unit for uninterrupted supply, may be the thing the city has been waiting for years.

After the power crisis last year, the announcement of the implementation of the scheme had seen unanimous support from real estate developers and industry owners in Gurgaon.

ccording to DHBVN, consumers having feeder load of 1,000 KV will be eligible for opting the Pune Model and the scheme will not be available for individual house owners in plotted colonies. The discom is in the process of hastening the implementation of the scheme in a big way before summer.

At present, 140 consumers, mainly industry houses and real estate developer are eligible for opting for reliability charges scheme. "The reliability charge scheme is an option not mandatory for all the bulk power buyers who have 1,000 KV feeder connections in Gurgaon or other places," said director operation V K Chaudhary.

He was quick to add that the option is not for individual house owners in plotted colonies. "To be eligible for the reliability charge scheme the individual house owners in plotted colonies, it will have to form a cluster as per their power demand and consumption," said Chaudhary.

In a nutshell, the new scheme offers uninterrupted power supply with extra reliability charge payment of Rs 1.50 per unit. If the discom fails to supply power between 90% and 95% in a day, then the reliability charge will be Rs 0.50 per unit. In case the power is supplied below 90%, the discom will pay Rs 0.50 per unit.

Reacting to the new scheme, a top executive of DLF, Gurgaon said: "The scheme is very useful for Gurgaon residents and high-end condominiums and plotted colonies and we are in the process of working out the modalities to opt for this scheme large scale."

Industry owners too have welcomed the move of the discom of giving an option of reliability charges in return of uninterrupted power supply. "The industry unit had been asking for something like for years. With diesel price spiraling every month, the power back up is bleeding all the industry units in Gurgaon-Manesar belt," said Rohit Wasan, owner of an export factory.

Last year, the industry suffered a lot because of the power crisis. "The cost input goes up if the factory runs on power backup for long hours. In such a scenario, the state government has taken a brilliant step," said Wasan.