With high demand on the one hand and poor supply of electricity meters on the other, six districts coming under Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM) are said to be facing a shortage of electricity meters for industrial units and residential consumers for the last four months.
GESCOM has awarded the tender to Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T) for production and supplying electricity meters in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari districts, through its outlets.
However, L&T outlets have reamined closed in all the districts for the last few months, says Kalaburagi district president of the Karnataka State Licensed Electrical Contractors Association (KSLECA) Mubeen Ahmed.
Mr. Ahmed said that L&T stopped production of electricity meters before the completion of tender, due to which consumers in Kalyana Karnataka region coming under the jurisdiction of GESCOM are facing acute shortage of electricity meters.
Meanwhile, GESCOM could have floated a new tender six months before the expiry of the existing tender, so that the new company would have started production of meters to maintain continuity in the supply chain, Mr. Ahmed said.
KSLECA Bidar district president Erashetty Khyama said that private builders and industry owners have paid the amount in advance for getting electricity connections and they are still waiting for connections even after three months of having paid fees. Many construction projects have been halted due to lack of power supply, Mr. Khyama added.
KSLECA Yadgir district president Mohammad Nawab said that the district requires at least 100-150 meters per day, including three-phase and single-phase (residential and industrial), and meters have not been available for new connections in the district for the last four months.
GESCOM Managing Director Rahul Pandve has said that GESCOM has floated a new tender for supply of electricity meters. The shortage of electricity meters will end soon once the tender process is completed, he added.
