Mumbai, Oct 31 (IANS): The Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) has won a bid to supply power at competitive prices to the SEZ, Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Mumbai, starting November1, officials said here on Tuesday.

With this, around 500 big and small companies in SEEPZ, which require around 40-45 MW power daily, shall get discounted tariffs from Adani Electricity, proving to be a boost to the trade and industry centred here.

The move culminates several years of efforts on the part of SEEPZ, with AEML joining as a co-developer in the AEML SEEPZ Ltd (ASL) as a dedicated utility for the SEZ in Andheri East, which is among India’s oldest, and currently in its 50th year of operations.

SEEPZ-SEZ Zonal Development Commissioner Rajesh Kumar Mishra and Joint Development Commissioner C.P.S. Chauhan said that after tireless efforts of more than two-three years, the ASL has come into being and will provide power with reduced tariffs of 25-30 percent to the industries here.

“Reduced electricity cost will be a great boost to the Trade and Industry, while manufacturing or providing services to the international markets at competitive rates. This will be helpful to the business and, in turn, helpful in boosting the economy of our country,” said Mishra.

SEEPZ Gems & Jewellery Manufacturers’ Association Vice-President, Premkumar L. Kothari, termed it is an example of the public-private cooperation essential to foster economic development, which would have a transformative impact on their members to reduce power costs and become more competitive in global markets.

Besides, the ASL will make focused investment in the electricity distribution network within the SEZ to improve reliability and efficiency, and ensure topnotch customer services and seamless experiences for SEEPZ businesses.

Spread over 110 acres, the central entity SEEPZ has a variety of export oriented units, but the gems and jewellery units here account for the lion’s share of over 40 per cent of the country’s total exports.