The Hindu Business Line : Tata Motors trebling captive power generation at Pune plant

Pune, April 20 In a move that appears to be hedging against irregular power supply and load shedding in the Pune region in the future, auto major Tata Motors is in the process of more than trebling captive power generation capacity at its Pimpri plant.

Once an additional three generator sets, acquired from the Thane works of Mafatlal group company Standard Alkali are installed and commissioned around June, the company will have the capacity to generate 44 MW of power against the existing 14 MW.

A spokesperson for the company said, “Tata Motors is currently installing three diesel generator sets of 10 MW each, at our plant in Pimpri. Post-installation, the total power generation capacity here will be about 44 MW. The existing generators at Pimpri have a capacity of about 14 MW.”

Stand-by arrangement

According to a company official, the new generators will be a stand-by arrangement in case power supply fails. It is no secret that the Pune region is routinely affected by power crunch, especially in the summer months, and the gap is, according to the State electricity distribution company MSEDCL, around 160 MW per day.

As of today, Tata Motors’ average daily power consumption is pegged at 50-55 MW. With the recent announcement that an additional Rs 6,000 crore would be invested in the Pune facility over the next few years to augment production capacity and setting up vehicle testing facilities, the company will need more power. The Tata Motors spokesperson clarified that the installation of the diesel generator sets is in addition to the proposed investment.

Tata Motors, has, for the last two years, been a major participant of the Confederation of Indian Industry promoted ‘Pune zero-load shedding model’ that involved 30 captive power plants (CPPs), and saved people from the prospect of crippling power cuts at the height of summer. The company contributed a valuable 10 MW per day towards the initiative.

With the demand-supply gap growing despite captive power plants pitching in, earlier this month, Tata Power Ltd agreed to be interim power distribution franchisee for MSEDCL. It will supply 100 MW of power daily till September subject to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission sanction. Since April 5, all CII-run CPPs, including generators at Tata Motors, have been idle.

Under these circumstances, the move to install additional generators at Tata Motors has given rise to speculation that this will improve Tata Power’s prospects in the bid to be a permanent generation based distributor franchisee in the future.

More Stories on : Outlook | Power | Tata Motors Ltd

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