April 30, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1427

KARACHI, April 29: KESC’s frequent power breakdowns during summer created a business opportunity for gadgets of alternative energy sources. In Karachi power generators import and the production of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) in the cottage industry particularly got a boost.

A market survey conducted by Dawn confirmed that Chinese generators that are lighter and comparatively cheaper have captured about 85-90 per cent share of the market.

According to Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), import of power generating machinery surged by 45 per cent to $398 m during July-March 2005-2006 from $257 million the same period of last fiscal.

According to market sources some 35-40 parties are engaged in producing UPS units in the cottage industry with different names. As there is no firmed up data available to indicate production and sales figures of UPS in the country, it is difficult to analyse the quantum of current demand for UPS.

The UPS was introduces some 10 years back by a few market players. It gained currency when power failure problem became persistent in 2004 and 2005.

Unannounced power breakdowns and load-shedding broke all previous records in simmering heat this year. The performance of the KESC, which was presumed to have improved following its privatisation, has remained very depressing.

However, M. Riaz of Naqi and Sons Electric Store at Arambagh said that the consumers’ presence this year had been somewhat thin as compared to last year’s despite the fact that the intensity of load-shedding had been more severe than the last year.

“Our UPS market has got a dent owing to entry of cheap Chinese generators otherwise UPS had been popular by last year,” he said, adding that UPS market may remain average as imports of Chinese generators had been gathering pace.

A UPS for lighting up one tube-light and one fan was being sold at Rs2,000 followed by Rs3,500 for two tube-lights and two fans and Rs4,500 for three tube-lights and three fans with a guarantee of transformer for six months to one year.

He said that there had been no increase in the rates of UPS. “Our business season gets underway from March to August like generators’ sales and prices have been depressed than last year,” he said.

A buyer of UPS has to arrange a new battery so that the UPS could last for three to four hours. Battery prices vary depending on ampere power. Battery makers have reduced the guarantee period to six month from one year.

UPS does not attract many buyers because with a battery it becomes expensive and out of the reach of an average customer.

Besides, a customer can have a Chinese generator of 0.5-1.0 kVA at Rs4,500-12,000 as against Rs9,000 to 10,000 including battery expenditure and fitting.

UPS has one benefit as it does not create environmental pollution and noise like generators.

The main generator/UPS market, located near Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), is witnessing rush of intending buyers these days.

Chinese generators have virtually changed the market scenario in favour of consumers because of their affordable prices as compared to Japanese and European brands.

An estimated 50,000-60,000 power generating machines is being imported every year in which China holds the 85 per cent share. Five years back, only Japanese generators used to rule the market with import of 5,000-6,000 units per year, President Karachi Machinery Merchants Group Sikandar Shahzada said.

He said that 70 per cent market share was enjoyed by petrol generators followed by 15 per cent each by gas and diesel generators.

“There is a marked difference between Chinese and Japanese and European generators but people prefer Chinese generators because of its lower prices,” he said.

A 2-kVA and 3-kVA Chinese generator can be purchased at Rs11,500-Rs19,500 and Rs28,000-Rs38,000 depending on the quality and design while a Japanese brand of same power is available at Rs36,500 and Rs65,000 respectively.

Similarly, a 4-kVA and 5-kVA generator of China costs between Rs32,000-44,000 and Rs30,000-50,000 respectively as against Rs80,000 and Rs95,000 of same Japanese brand.

Sikandar said that there had been no price hike in generators compared to last year as import duty was very low at 10 per cent and six per cent income tax while sales tax was exempted.

Time has changed and every body can have generator thanks to entry of Chinese brands, he said, adding that the Chinese generators used to create problems but the quality had been improved but not up to the mark with Japanese, European and American brands.

He said that some people had started local assembling of generators by bringing Chinese engine and other parts and there was big difference in price between imported Chinese brand and locally assembled brand.

He said that many people were installing gas kit in their petrol generators to offset the operational cost that had been rising owing to increase in petrol prices.