The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Anyone for bulbs that last?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Anyone for bulbs that last?

A. Saye Sekhar

MONEY SAVER: CFL bulbs are seen as a good alternative in the wake of hike in power charges.

HYDERABAD: Vexed with frequently burning bulbs and changing one every six months? A private firm has come forward to replace all the GLS (general lighting service) bulbs in the State with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL).

CFL, as we all know, is a costly proposition. Banyan Environmental Innovation Pvt Ltd along with Cantor CO2e has come forward to replace the GLS bulbs with CFLs at Rs. 10 a 40-watt bulb, Rs. 11 and Rs. 12 a 60-watt and 100-watt bulbs respectively. Discounting of the CFLs costs Rs. 400 crores.

Do the CFLs come cheap? Certainly not. Yet, Phillips and Osram, world majors in making long-life bulbs, have come forward to partner with `Banyan' to take up the mission.

According to CEO and managing director of `Banyan' N. J. Agrawal, the company will sell carbon credits accrued due to saving of electricity and its proceeds can meet the expenditure of the bulbs, which may cost up to Rs. 175 each.

And, still he finds the project to be viable.

Saving of power

The Government can save 950 megawatts to 1,100 MW, which works out to Rs. 500 crores to Rs. 600 crores. According to statistics provided to `Banyan' by Electrical Lighting Component Manufacturers Association, the total number of bulb-holders is estimated at 40 million in the State. There are 1.7 crore registered consumers with the four Discoms (power distribution companies) in the State. `Banyan', which has entered into an agreement with Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP), plans to implement the pilot project in a typical village in May. Eventually, it wants to implement the project in two years -- one district a month.

He wants to propose to the Government to involve woman self-help groups (SHG) to educate people on advantages of using CFLs. Incidentally, `Banyan' can provide employment to at least 5,000 women of SHGs. Consumers can choose yellow and white bulbs and each CFL can reduce the power bill by about Rs. 3,000 a year.

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