DG set ban kicks in, but few factories make PNG switch

NOIDA: The ban on diesel generators kicks in from Saturday as part of an umbrella framework of steps to cut chronic pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, stewarded by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), but very few industrial units have converted to gas-based gensets.
Only 700 out of 10,000 units using diesel generators in Ghaziabad have switched to the cleaner PNG, as per estimates provided by industry bodies, while in Gautam Budh Nagar, the number is lower still at just over 100. As a garment producing hub, the district with the twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida has around 25,000 industrial units, mostly small and medium ones, many of which use gensets.
A combination of procedural delays, limited reach of the PNG network, cost of conversion and factory owners in the NCR cities, where most of the region's manufacturing is based, stalling in hope of relief or exemptions has led to this.
Consequently, many of them are looking nervously at the festive weeks ahead and winter after that, fearing hits to their production lines if they can't use backup and are to entirely bank on the outage-prone power supply network.
From October 1, the CAQM has permitted the use of only PNG or biomass fuel for industries in NCR. The deadline to convert lapsed on September 30.
Industrialists have argued that at a time when they are yet to recover from Covid stress, the diktat to convert to PNG should have only been issued once the support system was adequate, citing high retrofitting costs for diesel gensets since there aren't any authorised agencies for it, PNG applications taking a long time to be cleared, and the rising cost of gas itself, particularly after the Russia-Ukraine war.
Sanjeev Sharma, industrialist and general secretary of Indian Entrepreneurs Association, told TOI, "Gas supply is not available in all areas. Besides, gas charges have shot up. The per unit cost on January 1, 2021 was Rs 31.56. Today, it's Rs 63.91. Industrialists will be forced to leave the region if such diktats are imposed. Even if we retrofit diesel gensets, dual power generators are allowed only for two hours in a day (according to CAQM guidelines). Officials must understand that we need generators only when raw material is stuck in machines and we must save that from losses."
In Gautam Budh Nagar, 60% of the industries are MSMEs, which work with limited capital and are dependent on loans. A businessman who owns a packaging material unit said it needs a heating system round the clock. "If there is a power outage, the machines restart and take at least one hour to reheat, which causes loss of material. That's why we need uninterrupted power supply and hence need seamless backup," he said.
Manoj Bansal, an industry unit owner in Ecotech 1 extension, said he had applied for a PNG connection in July 2021 but still hadn't got one. "Now, with this ban on diesel gensets coming into force, what am I supposed to do? I have also followed up with IGL but without any positive result," he said.
IGL officials TOI spoke to said pipeline expansion work needs various approvals and work in the industrial areas was under way. "Our pipelines have reached 95% areas in GB Nagar and the remaining areas will be covered by December 31 as we have sorted out permission-related problems from all departments," said Amit Nangia, IGL's deputy GM in the district. "We have already started fixing meters and pending connections are also being completed," he added.
Brijesh Saxena, who owns a hosiery dyeing unit, said the cost of biomass briquettes, the substitute for coal to fire boilers, had increased too as demand from NCR industries had caused a supply mismatch. "The panic around the ban has disrupted the supply of biomass briquettes, which were earlier selling for Rs 4 a kg and now cost Rs 8.2 a kg. Suppliers also can't fulfil orders. I had a pre-booking but couldn't get the required quantity. This will lead to factories missing order delivery deadlines."
Factory owners said they had multiple meetings with the authorities on the practical difficulties of switching to PNG - a dual fuel generator isn't preferred because of the cap on use set by guidelines and the cost of retrofitting, while PNG-based gensets are also expensive. Manoj Kumar, who heads the environment and PNG committee of industries in Ghaziabad, said most units use the 125kVA genset. "The conversion of these to PNG would cost Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. Besides, the conversion agencies we consulted told us they don't have the technology to convert diesel gensets below 200-250kVA. The high conversion cost is a liability for most industrial units," said Kumar, adding the average monthly use of a diesel genset is for around 30 hours.
New PNG gensets cost between Rs 6 lakh for a 50kVA and Rs 46 lakh for 250kVA. The prices were discussed at a recent meeting of industry owners and companies manufacturing the generators.
The pressure is also on discoms.
Officials in Noida Power Corporation Limited, the private electricity supplier in Greater Noida, said power outages will be managed in minimum time. "Power cuts happen only in case of a fault in transmission lines. While we are committed to supplying regular power to industries, we have also scaled up the number of teams who will detect and fix any power outage within a short time," said Manoj Jha of NPCL.
Virendra Singh, chief engineer of UPPCL in Noida, said, "We have told our teams to make sure shutdowns are minimum and are done at specified times to avoid losses to industries. Our teams are equipped to resolve the faults in minimum time."