BEST plans to add more than one lakh electricity consumers in Mumbai through a new outreach campaign during the Ganesh festival, as the civic utility faces growing competition from private power suppliers, including Tata Power.
The campaign will focus on Ganesh mandals, housing societies, newly constructed buildings and commercial establishments across the city. BEST has formed two teams for the exercise, with operations divided between northern and southern parts of Mumbai and covering municipal wards.
The teams will focus on securing new electricity connections in areas where redevelopment projects and large residential complexes are creating fresh demand. BEST currently has approximately 10.60 lakh electricity consumers, and the campaign aims to increase that base by more than one lakh.
The utility’s customer drive comes as private electricity suppliers expand their presence in Mumbai’s redevelopment and housing market. Several newly constructed buildings and housing complexes are receiving electricity connections from private suppliers, increasing competition for customers that BEST has traditionally served.
The report said BEST has faced difficulties in building the substations required to supply electricity to some new developments. Tata Power supplied electricity to a large housing complex in Wadala after BEST encountered such challenges.
Tata Power’s customer base has crossed eight lakh, with the company adding more than one lakh consumers over the past few years. The company has also been developing infrastructure intended to serve customers in areas where space is limited.
In Parel, Tata Power has developed and commissioned its first underground submersible substation. The 400-kVA substation continued operating during the monsoon even when it was fully submerged, according to the report.
Tata Power also plans to build more than 100 underground substations in Mumbai over the next four years. The company said the infrastructure is intended to improve voltage stability in densely populated residential and commercial areas.
For BEST, the outreach programme is part of an effort to retain its position in a market being reshaped by redevelopment and new construction. The utility described the campaign as more than a customer acquisition exercise, with new buildings and redevelopment projects generating fresh demand for electricity connections.
“BEST is an old and reliable institution,” BEST committee chairperson Trishna Vishwasrao said, according to the report. The campaign’s next step will be the deployment of the two teams to contact potential consumers during the Ganesh festival period.
