Power outages cost India Inc over Rs 43,000 cr

India Inc has suffered a massive loss of over Rs 43,000 crore (Rs 430 billion), in the recently concluded financial year due to non-availability and mismanagement of power, a study says.

"India Inc lost Rs 43,205 crore (Rs 432.05 billion) in financial year 2008-09 due to high occurrence of power outages, both scheduled and non-scheduled," a joint study by Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and Emerson Network Power (India) said.

The study further said that the amount of such direct losses has more than doubled since 2003 when these amounted to Rs 22,000 crore (Rs 220 billion).

"In India, while the metros have a challenge on power supply, the interiors reflect a still grave picture. The problem is further compounded by unclean power and other basic constraints like earthing, cabling and lack of a viable infrastructure," Sandeep Nair, managing director, Emerson Network Power said.

Spread over nine weeks, a total of 850 companies were surveyed in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Pune apart from 17 other Tier II and Tier III industrial centres.