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Our Bureau

Pune, Aug. 11 The use of captive diesel power generators to keep work schedules functioning normally despite the weekly load shedding has raised the daily operational costs for almost all companies across the industrial belt in the Pune region.

The manufacturing sector is dealing with the crisis by shutting down production on the days when power supply is shut – Thursdays and Fridays too in some cases – and compensating with longer working hours day on the remaining days.

But it is the power-intensive IT and BPO sector, whose weekly demand for diesel has gone up by nearly 400 per cent over the normal requirement to ensure an uninterrupted working week that is carrying a significant financial burden. The small and middle level players are the most affected. In fact, some fear that the extra expense may impact the quarterly results adversely.

Says Mr Ganesh Natarajan, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies, “We continue with our 5-day week schedule,” but adds that with the company setting aside Rs 2 lakh per day to generate captive power, the additional expense will be reflected in the quarterly results.

Several other companies admit that costs of supporting operations with captive power are “significantly higher”, but shy away from putting a figure to the extra expenses.

To add to IT companies’ woes, diesel supply in the city has been erratic over the past few days. According to a source in the industry, the current requirement of diesel is nearly four times that required under normal circumstances.

In a bid to provide them relief, late last week, a list of the individual weekly diesel requirements 98 IT companies was compiled and submitted to the district collector to avoid discontinuity in the diesel supply.

The total requirement was placed at 1034 kilolitres (KL) per week.

Those with requirements up to 3 KL per week have been permitted to lift diesel in retail from convenient petrol pumps. Forty-two companies, including Wipro, Cognizant Technologies, Eon and Tech Mahindra that had indented for quantities well over this, have been asked to apply for bulk purchases directly from the oil depot at Loni. A decision on the matter is pending with the divisional commissioner.

More Stories on : Outsourcing | Power | Petroleum

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