Bangalore: Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) Managing Director and Chairman of the electricity supply companies in the State, Bharat Lal Meena, said on Wednesday that the region under the jurisdiction of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), including Bangalore Rural district, will soon have automated power distribution, reducing power outages to a considerable extent. KPTCL has sought financial assistance from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to fund this. Mr. Meena, who addressed a gathering of Bangalore Management Association on "Management of power distribution", said a "ring strategy" of having a network of distribution systems around the city and Bangalore district was among the plans being implemented. This will meet the aim of uninterrupted and quality power, especially to industries around the city.

"BESCOM area already has computerised billing and online payment facility and more payment machines and centres are being set up. Transmission and distribution losses in the area are now 9.5 per cent, the energy losses are lowest in the State and on many criteria, Bangalore is No. 1 or 2 , even compared to larger cities such as Delhi, according to a comparative survey," he said. Bangalore region reported "zero transformer failure" for three years in a row.

The savings in power losses in BESCOM region resulted in revenues going up by Rs. 566 crores last year. With annual revenues of Rs. 3,656 crores, the region was the most profitable with a good return-on-investment, an objective of power sector reforms, Mr. Meena said.

Reducing transmission and distribution losses through micro level power audits, fitting transformers with meters synchronised to consumers' meters and other ways of preventing power thefts have been resorted to, he said.

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