On Monday, the Maximum City came to a standstill after a grid failure resulted in massive power cuts across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. Train services, businesses and even courts were without electricity. As the day progressed, power restoration efforts began on "war footing".
Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut said the trouble emanated from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) facilities during planned maintenance work. He also added that the inquiry will be held on what led to a power failure.
An industry source told PTI that it took longer than expected for the power supply to resume because one of the two thermal power stations in the city and its vicinity, which have to act as a ready source as part of an "islanding" system to avert such situations, took longer to start generating power.
Meanwhile, Union Power Minister RK Singh said, "We are sending a team from the Central Authority to Mumbai to sit down with the state transmission authority and find out where the problem was and how it started."
How much does each hour of power cut cost Mumbai?
According to a report, the per hour estimated loss due to power outage in Mumbai is Rs 258 crores. The Maximum City is the financial capital of the nation and has an impact on 25 per cent of the country's industrial production. 70 per cent of the country's trade through sea route is also impacted and the power cut also affects 70 per cent money transactions as headquarters of most banks are in Mumbai.
(With PTI inputs)