Power cut a boon for some, generators' sale increases

COIMBATORE: Although power cuts are a real nuisance for most of us, for some traders it is an occasion to celebrate. With the erratic power outages during peak summer, the sale of generators and UPS units have shot up.
"This is a good time for us. With the increasing outages, the sale of generators has shot up by 40%," said D Ganeshan, proprietor, Associated Electronics, who has a showroom for generators on Dr Nanjappa Road.Generators vary from 450 watts to 6,500 watts and run on petrol. They cost anywhere between `15,828 for a low-end model to `1,52,880 for models on which multiple air-conditioners and televisions can be run. "Besides this, there are models that use LPG, but they are not as popular as the petrol models," says Ganeshan.
B Mohammed Hussain says his shop, Hindustan Advanced Technology in Gandhipuram, sells about six to seven UPS units in a day. "Though this is not a seasonal product, we are seeing continuous sale of UPS units ranging from 1kv to 5kv. People specifically ask for products that last for at least three hours," he said. Offices choose UPS units over generators as they need to use computers. "I supply three to five UPS units a week. Since the power cuts, sales has increased by 30%. Mostly offices with 10-12 computers buy UPS units," says Thilak Palanisami.
However, rains over the last two weeks have slightly dampened the sale of UPS units. "We used to sell about three to four units a day. But with the rains, the sale has marginally come down. We are pinning our hopes on the scorching heat," says P Ramesh, who owns SP Batteries.