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Udipi restaurants to get cheaper |
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By: Urvashi Seth |
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Date:
2009-07-05 |
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Place: Mumbai |
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About 8,000 members of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, which comprises largely of Udipi restaurant owners, are looking to reduce their electricity bills. Some big hotels are doing this by installing windmills while smaller restaurants will switch from BEST and REL to the cheaper TATA power.
This will help them save almost 40-50 per cent of their bills. "Many hoteliers are on the verge of closing down due to the unjustified hike by BEST and REL. We have unanimously decided to switch to Tata power wherever feasible. The company has agreed to supply the electricity on switchover basis from Reliance Energy and others," said Narayan Alva, president of AHAR.
Pradeep Jain, a restaurant owner from Kandivali, says, "With the Supreme Court giving a verdict that the customer can switch over from one energy provider to another, I will be able to save 50 per cent of what I was paying."
The Hotel and Restaurant Association â Western India, an association of five-star hotels, have decided to join in. "We don't mind joining in," said S P Jain, president of HRA-WI. Authorities aren't worried. "It's a free country. Who am I to tell them what they should do?" said Uttam Khobragade, general manager of BEST. |
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