Telangana power crisis: Diesel generator and inverter makers rake it in

HYDERABAD: Telangana's first government may have disappointed most investors and businesses with its failure to ensure uninterrupted power supply but diesel generator and inverter makers are upbeat in the country's newest state, where they expect to double their annual sales. “We see the demand for DG sets in Telangana constantly going up. The state will remain a major contributor to our growth,“ said Sanjeev Nimkar, vice president of Kirloskar Oil Engines, India's largest DG sets maker, which enjoys over a third of market share.

The government-appointed task force headed by energy secretary SK Joshi had last month projected demand to grow 50% and power deficit to widen in the next five years. According to the panel, power demand in Telangana will increase to 84,496 million units by 2018-19 from 54,998 mu at present while the defi cit will rise to nearly 50% at 40,742 mu.

Analysts tracking the Rs 10,000 crore back-up power sector project a healthy demand growth for DG sets and engines, and sizeable investments by the manufacturers in capacity augmentation in the next 12-24 months. Besides Kirloskar, the other key players include Cummins India, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Eicher India, Escorts India, Greaves Cotton, Kirloskar Electric, Caterpillar India and MTU India.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who holds successive governments and his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu responsible for the power woes, has said that it will take three years to fully resolve the crisis.