Click to play videoMumbai: The heat is on and so are the power cuts in Western India. However, this time it is not just rural areas of Maharashtra but even cities like Pune, which are going to bear the brunt.
"All our electronic items, mixers, microwaves fridge, nothing can be used. Something should be done about this power cut and it should come to an end,” says housewife, Mansa Veena.
While large parts of Mumbai escaped the sweat of power cuts last summer, this time they will have to pay a heavy price to get uninterrupted supply. Suburbs of Mumbai will have to pay more almost 20 per cent more as the power regulator has allotted a larger share of the available power to island city.
This means that Reliance energy will have to buy additional 800 MW power from other sources at a much higher cost which is expected to push up tariffs.
“If we have to buy power from outside to maintain supply, it is going to cost 20 per cent more,” says Reliance Energy, Lalit Jalan.
While residents of this area will not have to pay anything extra for uninterrupted power this summer the consumers in suburbs are not as lucky. CNN-IBN has learnt that the Maharashtra government is in hectic negotiations with power companies across the country and a major power purchase deal will be announced soon.
However, even as hectic negotiations go on, rural Maharashtra is expected to get no respite with 12 to 16 hour power cuts all set to return this summer yet again.
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