— Manas Kundu, Associate Director-Energy Solutions, International Copper Promotion Council India

International Copper Promotion Council India (ICPCI), formed in 2001, is the Indian centre of the International Copper Association (ICA) the leading organisation for the promotion of copper worldwide. ICA operates in 24 countries through 31 centres. ICPCI actively promotes copper through seminars, workshops and training programmes all over India. Manas Kundu discusses the role of copper, the indispensable material for wiring, in light of India's power sector ambitions. Kundu explains how ICPCI is doing its bit in creating awareness about safe practices in electrical wiring. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

Tell us in brief about the demand-supply scenario of copper, especially in view of the sharply rising demand from the power sector.
According to International Copper Study Group global copper mine production in 2011 reached over 16 million tonnes. During the same year, smelter production reached over 15.8 million tonnes and refinery production increased to 19.5 million tonnes.

Refined copper usage (usage by semis plants or the first users of copper) in 2011 reached nearly 20.1 million tonnes. China was also the largest consumer of refined copper in 2011 with apparent usage of over 7.9 million tonnes, according to World Copper Factbook 2012 published by ICSG.

Considering Indian market the demand is apparently estimated around 1 million tonnes, lion's share of which is met by smelters and refiners located here. India does not figure in top 20 countries in copper mining but in copper smelter production it comes in top five countries, China being topmost. Similarly in refined copper, production India comes within top 10 countries in the world.

Power supply in India is generally perceived to be of poor quality. Tell us about this and its impact on the economy.
There are two dimensions when you perceive power supply to be of poor quality. First it is continuity of power supply, which means 24x7 availability. In other terms one can call it reliability. Mumbai, for instance, has highly reliable supply.

Secondly, it is quality of supply, which means how well the supply conforms with standards, both in terms of voltage and frequency.

India is perennially struggling with the first issue, having a peak deficit of around 10 per cent and energy deficit around 8 per cent. This is despite of ambitious target of adding generating capacity and recurrent failure in meeting the planned capacity addition.

During the same time our GDP growth projection, if to be sustained has to be supported by sufficient power availability and that is why you see ambitious program of government to planned capacity addition. Our economy is turning digital be it IT-enabled services or electronic-controlled manufacturing process, or even the digital lifestyle. All of them not only demand high degree of quality power but also are themselves source to many power-quality problems! Unfortunately there is no scientific estimate done by any government agency aboutthe economic impact of poor power quality as has been done earlier in USA or Europe.

Rough estimate and dip stick study indicates that India might be suffering an economic loss of more than Rs.100,000 crore annually due to poor power quality. Remember also that India is spending more than Rs.30,000 crore annually to fall upon inefficient power backups using gensets and inverters.

What measures is ICPCI taking to at least increase awareness on this issue?
We at ICPCI have joined hands with few organizations across Asia to establish a neutral platform for power quality education and awareness amongst various stakeholders in Asia region. This platform is known as Asia Power Quality Initiative (APQI) that was supported by EU during inception. APQI today, in its fourth year, caters to build up capacity and information dissemination while actively involved in policy advocacy towards power quality standards and regulations. APQI India with the help of its national support network (NSN) partners conducts technical seminar, workshops physically across various cities in the country, Besides it continues creating a platform for delivery of web based content that works on the philosophy of 'Learn-n-Share' with open access principle.

In the building wire segment, it is alleged that there are thousands of companies in the unorganized sector that use inferior copper. What is your view?
Yes. The quality of copper plays a very important role in wires. Wires adhering to the standards can save power to the tune of 14 mw in Mumbai and can be 277 mw for entire India per day. (Source: CEEAMA News, February 2012). Secondly, poor quality of wires attracts power loss as well as frequent failures.

Wires manufactured by unorganized sector, which use commercial or low-grade copper, contribute 51 per cent of total market size. Therefore, the cost of wire made of commercial copper is much lower compare to wire made of pure electrolytic copper. When low-grade copper is used, there is a high rate of electrical accidents due to electrical short circuits.

Increasing trend of fires across the country, with common denominator indicating electrical short circuit as the cause, should ring alarm both in the minds of standards enforcement agencies and end-users too. This has to be effectively backed up by credible supply chain players.

Although there is no substitute for copper in power (PVC) cables, it is said that the choice of polymers is also critical to ensure safety during short circuit-induced fire. What is your view?
Yes it is right since it is providing the first layer of insulation to the current carrying conductor thereby providing safety to users and installations. Any conductor when carrying current will have heat loss that in turn increases the temperature. If you have poor quality of such insulating material you are creating a safety hazard.

Another important thing is in the eventuality of fire, which in first place should be prevented by use of right design, right material procurement and right installation practices; it should not get a chance to spread further. Inferior polymer used adds fuel to fire.

Our indifference and ultra-cost sensitivity often makes us vulnerable. This is further intensified by absence of knowledge amongst end-users and electricians who are empowered often by homeowners to select house wiring materials.

Home wiring is usually done by local electricians, most of who might be trained on the job but not strictly qualified. How do you view the situation?
In India as much as 70 per cent electricians have not undergone any formal education or training through any certification program like ITI, polytechnics etc. This results in poor workmanship.

In absence of theoretical knowledge these untrained electricians tends to make mistakes during electrical installation which sooner or later leads to big accidents e.g. fire, electrical shocks, breakdowns, etc.

Though we have systems of certification of worthiness of house wiring systems in place before extending supply, the utility concerned that is entrusted with this responsibility by the state does not do justice, citing sheer numbers and logistics issue. Thus it only remains on paper and as in many cases the enforcement is very poor. The adverse result is seen often in terms of fire, electrical accident, loss of life etc.

Is ICPCI doing anything to improve the lot of downstream electricians?
Yes, to address this from core we felt responsible to train our electricians from bottom of pyramid making them aware of good practices and tropical developments. Capacity building and awareness campaigns has been the cornerstone of these initiatives to facilitate various stakeholders in the value chain right from decision-makers to service providers and consumers.

ICPCI is operational in 23 states through its network of 14 project associates addressing approximately 20,000 untrained electricians per year. Training program are conducted on "Safe Installation Practices in Building Wiring". These programs, covering mostly tier-2 and tier-3 cities where we find more untrained electricians, are conducted in local languages to enhance effectiveness. Besides, reading material and collaterals are printed in nine regional languages.

What do you think is the overall level of safety in terms of wiring of the 60 million households in India? Would you suggest simple but important measures to check for safety?
Overall safety is low due to:

• Lack of enforcement of standards & codes. The provisions in "National Building Code of India" and "National Electrical code of India" are voluntary and not mandatory.
  
• Quality marking norms (ISI) are not mandatory
  
• Market is dominated by untrained & unskilled contractor & Electricians learning on the job. A major portion of this is being addressed under ICPCI electricians training program, and several Government of India initiatives under the Modular Employable Scheme.
  
• Failure in periodic electrical inspection

Some years ago, ICPCI took up a project for slum electrification in Mumbai. Tell us more.
Yes, it was a joint initiative under World Bank's Global Partnership on Output Based Aid (GPOBA) program for utility, in this case Reliance Infrastructure being the licensee for chosen captive area, where ICPCI has a defined role to play.

The objective of this project, called Slum Electrification & Loss Reduction (SELR), is to develop, test, evaluate and scale-up customized approaches to improve electricity access, normalize services, and improve the quality of life in slum areas.

ICPCI had several areas of responsibility like development of technical specifications for wiring upgrade packages; technical support to assessing installation contractor qualifications and wiring schemes; training to contractors on safe wiring practices; and training to participating CBOs/NGOs on safe wiring.

There have been some delays in the project due to difficulties in infrastructure upgrade, reluctance from few slum dwellers to invest in internal wiring and the initial cost; and lack of cooperation from social bodies and local NGOs, etc.

What is the broad current status?
The project is slowly and steadily progressing in the right direction wherein Reliance Infrastructure has started receiving the application forms for new connection under the SELR project. Reliance has succeeded in doing some actual installation on ground and reaction of slum dwellers to the concept was quite encouraging.

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