The Hindu Business Line : Quality is in the stars

Chennai March 28 The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) that comes under the Union Ministry of Power is planning to launch a big media campaign to create awareness among the public on BEE labelling.

"As there is a need to educate consumers on the BEE certification programme and its advantages, we are planning to launch a major multimedia campaign soon and have earmarked Rs 3 crore for the purpose for 2007. It will be of the order of Rs 10-25 crore next year," Mr Ajay Mathur, Director-General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, told Business Line.

To encourage improvement in energy efficiency of equipment and appliances in the manufacturing stage and to promote such products, the Centre plans to make the BEE's `Star' labelling programme mandatory for all electrical appliances in phases.

"As there must be a six-month notice period before we make it mandatory, June could be the earliest that it could happen if we decide to do so in 2007," Mr Mathur said.

Big and colourful `energy-efficiency' labels, affixed to the products that are certified, would describe the product's energy performance (usually the number of units the product would consume in a year under standard test conditions) and rate the product on a comparative scale of one to five stars, enabling consumers to make an informed purchase.

Elaborating on what the stars would imply, Mr Mathur said that a product that is awarded five stars would consume 30 per cent less energy than those that have one. "The more the number of stars the more energy-efficient the product is."

`Well received'

The rating programme, rolled out late last year, has been received well by appliance manufacturers so far. "We are gratified with the rate of compliance so far."

According to him, there is 90 per cent compliance in the tubelight segment and 80 per cent in the frost-free refrigerator segment. "We expect close to 50 per cent compliance in the air-conditioner segment too before the end of June this year. It is pretty gratifying considering the fact that the programme is in the voluntary phase."

Asked whether BEE certification would be made compulsory for goods that are produced outside and imported into the country, Mr Mathur said that any product meant for sale within the country would have to comply with the norms.

More Stories on : Standards & Benchmarks | Electrical Goods | Power

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