BEST suffers Rs 346 cr 'technical loss'

Mumbai, Oct 10 (UNI) The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) budget, presented by General Manager Uttamrao Khobragade today, shows a ''technical loss'' of Rs 346 crore.

Mr Khobragade said the loss is ''technical'' because the BEST Committee has not yet implemented the increase in power rates this year. It will be done next year thereby covering the losses, he said.

Mr Khobragade said that if increased rates had been implemented this year, there would have been a profit of Rs 23 crore.

He said the cost of power has increased but the rise has not been passed on to the consumers by BEST. Private companies like Reliance have doubled the cost of power, Mr Khobragade said adding the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission has not doing anything in this regard and the BEST has decided to approach the Supreme Court in this regard.

The major loss-making unit is the transport division of the undertaking, but BEST will not increase the bus fares, Mr Khobragade said.

The undertaking has identified many sources of income in its scheme of things and will work in that direction in the coming months to make the undertaking a profit making organisation, Mr Khobragade said.

UNI