step of power:history of electrification in India

10 Pages·2017·0.225 MB·English

by  siddharta mukhrejee

STEPS OF POWER
Author(s): Siddhartha Chandra Mukherjee
Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 2017, Vol. 78 (2017), pp. 498-506
Published by: Indian History Congress
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26906120
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STEPS OF POWER: NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF
ELECTRIFICATION IN INDIA. (1883-1930)
Siddhartha Chandra Mukherjee
Kolkata
The fi rst electric supply station in India was constructed in Surat in 1883.1 A
small generating station was built to light the main streets of the city by arc
lamps. But the devastating fl oods of the Tapti river submerged the plant in
the following year. The next step in the development of the electricity supply
industry was taken in Darjeeling. A hydroelectric station of 130 KW was
built there in 1897.2 The undertaking which was owned by the municipality
worked in alternating current system. The generating station was located 2 ¾
miles away from the town and 3,500 feet below it.3 Water was collected from
the two jhoras or hill streams (namely Kotwali and Hospital) and led in the
galvanized iron troughing to a large reservoir situated midway between the
two sources of supply. The street lighting distribution was also carried out
with bare wires on A.B poles and ordinary insulators. There were 200 16 HP
lamps in waterproof fi ttings on galvanized brackets, spaced about every 200
meters for main thoroughfares.4 These small developments were followed by
a report from the government of Bengal Presidency about the establishment of
electric lights in the town of Calcutta. A bill related to this was passed by the
Bengal Council on 3rd August 1895 and received the assent of the Governor
General on 19th December, 1895. It became known as the Calcutta Electric
Lighting Act of 1898. Although an initial experiment was made by lighting
just the Harrison Street for a few hours in 18925 , this act paved the way for the
introduction of electric lights in the streets and the private spaces in Calcutta.
The fi rst generating station of the Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation was
at Emambag near Princep Street which commenced on 17th April, 1899.6 Later,
stations came up in places like Alipore (March, 1902), Haora (May, 1906) and
Ultadanga (September, 1906).7 This shows that electricity right from the very
beginning had lit both the British (Alipore) and the Indian industrial (Haora)
quarters in the city. The Calcutta Electric supply Act laid down a basic rule
that to get electric lights installed in any particular street, a petition signed
with not less than six applicants was a mandatory requirement.8 Street lights
began to get installed in the streets of Calcutta from 1899. By the end of April,
1899 there were 750 street lights in Calcutta9 which was quite remarkable
when compared to the total number of gaslights which were only 677 after 7
years of its introduction.10 However, the total number of electric lights in the
streets of Calcutta increased to 1,400 by April, 1900 and to 2,700 within the
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IHC: Proceedings, 78th Session, 2017 4 9 9
month of November in the same year.11 The initial charge of Electricity was
8 annas per unit. Although the cost acted as a deterrent at fi rst but gradually
people began to get interested in installing electric lighting in their houses
and by the beginnings of 1902, the total number of domestic subscribers was
70812with the total population of Calcutta being 933,754 in 1901.13 In this
context, it needs to be mentioned that till 1910, every electrical connection
ran on Direct Current (DC) systems. The fi rst Alternating Current (AC) plant
came in Ultadanga in 1910. It was followed by other AC plants in places like
Garden Reach, Mulajore and New Kashipore.
The introduction of electricity in Calcutta led to the rise of demands
for the supply of electricity from Burma, Punjab, Bihar and other provinces.
Faced with such a situation, the government decided that the existence of
an Imperial Act pertaining to the electrifi cation on an all India basis would
encourage the extension of electrical enterprises. 14 This led to the passing of
the Indian Electricity Act of 1900. The Act made the appointment of an electric
inspector necessary who was supposed to look into every electric installation
thereafter. The installation of an electric meter was made necessary in any
area which wished to have electricity installed in its premise. Licenses, along
with government agencies were also available for private companies. But any
licensee which was to set up a connection in a particular area was supposed
to construct distributing boxes for the purpose of supplying energy. Proper
apparatus for ventilation of these boxes were necessary. And it was clearly
instructed that no such box was to be placed above the ground without the
consent of the authority. It was so declared that any person caught tampering
with the connections unlawfully was to be imprisoned for 2 years. This
Act and the clauses laid down in it marked the beginning of the process of
electrifi cation on an all India basis which started properly from the beginning
of the 20th century
Electricity came to Delhi in 1902 to decorate the city for the Durbar.15
Within 1903 the Delhi streets began to be lit up by the electric lights as
electricity was considered a quintessential part of the Durbar by the colonial
government. The Durbar also witnessed the introduction of electric trams
in Delhi.16 Places like Chandni Chowk, Shahdara, Kashmiri Gate began to
get lit up by electric lights. Particular attention was given to the places like
Kudsia Garden, Roshanara Garden, Tis Hazari Maidan as these were the
places of amusement for the British and therefore decorated beautifully. One
of the fi rst places to be electrifi ed after the Durbar was the civil lines. The
demands to electrify the place led the Delhi Electric Tramways and Lighting
Company to build a power station just outside the Lahore Gate. This one was
probably the fi rst permanent power station in Delhi. The site leased for the
purpose was a Nazul land with a total area of 2051 square yards.17 The site
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500 Modern India
was granted to them by the Municipal Committee at a nominal rent of Rs. 100
per annum. The electric tram became a popular means of transport and was
extended upto Sadar Bazaar in 1907.18 Speaking of the tram cars in 1908, a
special correspondent of The Times of India noted that the residents of Delhi
did not have a tramway service a few years ago. But situations had changed
since then and now they had an excellent tramcar service running almost ten
miles through the busiest portions of the city.19 The “natives” were availing
the tramcars more and more with time and they were fi nding the new system
very convenient. The electric trams remained packed from full to overfl owing
especially during the festival days and the holiday times from morning till
night.20 There were few women and girls travelling in trams than in the humble
ekka but once there were a whole lot of ‘purdah ladies’ seen in burqas singing
their way to a wedding reception from Balliraman to Sadar Bazaar.21 It is also
no secret that some of those who attended the wedding of Jawaharlal Nehru
and Kamla Kaul in Bazar Sitaram travelled by tram as late as 1916.22 Even a
famous hakim like Ajmal Khan occasionally caught a tram to reach his house
in Balliraman, discarding his doli or palanquin.
A Tram in colonial Delhi (Source: http://olddelhiheritage.in/modes-of-
transport-through-the-ages-in-shahjahanabad/)
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IHC: Proceedings, 78th Session, 2017 5 0 1
A section of the tram route in colonial Delhi. (: http://olddelhiheritage.in/
modes-of-transport-through-the-ages-in-shahjahanabad/)
Amongst the princely states, Hyderabad and Mysore received
electricity even before places like Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore. The
inauguration of electricity took place in Hyderabad 1901.23 As it stood 30
years after its inception, the system of transmission of electricity consisted
of 6 mains, carrying currents at 6,600 volts.24 The system which had been
adopted generally by the Government was the laying out of ‘relatively low
tension mains’ to be able to pick up new districts conveniently. In cases when
the maximum capacity of the mains was reached, immediate steps were being
taken to build new sub-stations at convenient points. In 1931, there were 66
sub-stations which show that there has been a somewhat steady demand for
electric supply in the state. The highest demand that was reached in these 30
years (3,075 KW) was on the night of the Deepavali festival.25 This shows
that the appliance of electricity had begun to move out from the necessary
usages of lighting in the streets and private spaces and began to be used for the
purposes of entertainment during festival. A New Power House was installed
in 1927 which added to the total capacity of the power plants in the state.26 In
the exchange of Rs. 86 lakhs which went behind installing the power house,
a regular and suffi cient supply was ensured. The people of Hyderabad began
to get used to the amenities of electricity both for lighting and industrial
purposes with the installation of this power house.27 This can be exemplifi ed
by the fact that immediately after the installation of the power house 245
new consumers applied and received electricity making the total number of
consumers rising up to 2,674. This trait continued in the 1930s as well. While
noting the progress of electricity in 1930s in Hyderabad, a report informs
that between 1932 and 1939, the number of units consumed annually had
increased from 10 to 16 million while the number of consumers had doubled
from 4,000 to 7,500.28 The TOI noted that there was a marked initiative by
the government to encourage people to apply for electric connections in the
houses. This was exemplifi ed by the fact that this surge in electric progress
was complimented by a reduction in the rate per unit which was reduced from
six to a little over two annas which was ¼ of the rate that was charged for
electricity per unit when the process of electrifi cation started in Calcutta. The
tone of the report tried to put less emphasis on the fact that the initial charge
by Government for electricity was as high as 6 annas. The stress was more
on the fact that the rates were reduced by the government to encourage people
to apply for electric connections. It can be seen here that Hyderabad’s initial
policies ignored the experience of Calcutta where the high rates (8 annas)
charged for electricity during its installation had acted as a deterrent in the
process of spreading electricity.
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502 Modern India
In case of Mysore, the completion of the Sivasamudram Project led
to the inauguration of electricity in Mysore as early as 1902.29 It was one of
the earliest hydro-electric project in South India based on River Cauvery
and was initiated by the Mysore government for agricultural, economic and
domestic necessities. Mysore never looked back since then and a somewhat
steady increase of electrifi cation can be witnessed there. In 1911, the Mysore
Durbar sanctioned a huge sum of Rs. 8 lakhs to extend the Cauvery hydro-
electric project which was pending for a long time.30 This, the government
ensured was to be an important step in the process of extension electrifi cation
in Mysore. The already existing system was capable of producing a supply of
11,000 KW. The scheme as it was pointed out was supposed to increase the
capacity by enabling it to produce 14,300 KW as soon as possible. Then, in the
long run it would be made suffi cient to be able to manage an increased load
of another 8,000 KW. Gradually, the supply of electricity began to expand in
Mysore with the districts like Chennapatna, Bowringpte, Kolar and Tumkur
coming into its ambit.31.. The government also tried to encourage the farmers
to buy electric irrigation pumps by reducing the costs from Rs. 200 to Rs. 100.
In order to encourage the industries to come up and adopt the use of electricity,
the government steadily reduced the power rates especially for the small
industries. The rate for small scale industries in 1928 was one anna per unit.32
Along with the supply of electricity in the towns, rural electrifi cation formed
an important part of the policies of the Mysore Government. The process
intensifi ed in the 1920s and 1930s with electricity being supplied to places
like Anekal33 , Doddaballapur 34, Mulbagal35, Hoskote36, Chickkballarpur37
and Vadighenahalli 38. Within 1928, there were more than 128 villages in
Mysore with electrical energy being supplied to them.39 These initiatives of
the government in encouraging the farmers to buy electric irrigation pumps,
as noted above, fructifi ed to some extent. The increase of rural electrifi cation
and the resultant advantages convinced the villagers to conform to the modern
trend of mechanized power in the place of manual labour. The raiyat who used
to bail water from his wells by bullock began to understand the advantages of
an electric pump with the help of which he will be able to pump water at the
rate of about 2,000 gallons per hour. By 1936, in the state of Mysore, there
were about 383 irrigation pumping sets driven by electricity which were being
used regularly.40 The electrically driven fl our mills, rice mills or power loom
were by this time, no strangers to the villagers of Mysore. By 1936, there were
no less than 158 fl our mills and 637 rice mills, driven by cheap electricity.41
Bombay too, did not remain far behind. After the failure of some
initial experimentation to introduce electric lighting in the areas near
Crawford Street, the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramways Company was
set up and a license to supply electricity to the city was granted to it in 1905.
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IHC: Proceedings, 78th Session, 2017 5 0 3
It was from that year that the supply of electricity for tramways and domestic
purposes started in Bombay. The fi rst power generating station in Bombay
was set up in Wadi Bunder in November, 1905 which supplied power for
both tramways and offi cial and domestic purposes of the city. The capacity of
the station was 4,300 KW. But it could only remain suffi cient till 1908 as the
tramways started expanding and there was a growing need for power for other
purposes in the city. So, to meet these expanding demands, another station
was set up in Mazgaon (Kussara) in 1912 which was of a higher capacity. But
simultaneously, it also needs to be remembered that because of the high rates
of consumption, electricity here too, was not easily available to everybody.
The price of an electric bulb in Bombay was 2 rupees which considering the
time period (1905-06) was quite high. It was defi nitely a matter of luxury.
But situation changed with time and the ‘luxury’ changed into ‘necessity’.42
To meet the needs, new hydro-power stations were set up in Khopoli (1915),
Bhivpuri (1922) and Bhira (1927). These three stations were inter-connected
to supply electric power to Bombay and its suburbs and also Poona. These
new stations increased the expansion of electricity in Bombay and places like
Andheri.43 and Bandra (1928)44. In Bombay, electric trams were introduced
on 9th March, 1907 with the new line operating from Colaba to Crawford
Market. After the fi rst run from the Municipal to the Crawford market, the
Bombay Tramways Company had subsequently arranged for four new tram-
cars which continued to run till late in the afternoon. Every ride, it was noticed
was full of passengers who cheered and shouted with excitement as the trams
proceeded slowly. Fixed stopping places were ascertained for the electric
trams and it was indicated with the red sign boards attached to the centre
poles.45 The tram route was later extended from Crawford Street to Victoria
Garden via Cruickshank Road, Kalba Devi and Parel Road.46
The old offi ce of The Electric Supply and Tramways Company, Bombay,
lit up with electric lights. (Source: Times of India Archives, Pro Quest
Historical Newspapers: The Times of India, 1838-2004)
These electric installations in Bombay and the resultant conveniences
infl uenced and encouraged the other parts of Maharashtra like Belgaum,
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504 Modern India
Baramati, Yeola, Jacobabad, Bulsar etc. to apply for electric connections.
The number of petitions for licenses increased from 40 in the end of 1933 to
47 within the fi rst 3 months of 1934 with 16 licenses under consideration and
about to be released. But this progress of electricity in Bombay when looked
in terms of street lamps show remarkable difference with Calcutta as within
one year of its introduction the number of street lights in Calcutta had doubled
from 756 to 1400 whereas even after almost 29 years after its introduction the
total number of street lamps in Bombay was 2,796.47
The process of electrifi cation of cities of India continued. The
inauguration of electricity in Bangalore took place in the same year with
Bombay in 1905.48 Lahore received electricity in 1911.49 Jullundur began to
be lit up by electricity from the year 1925. 50 The Punjab region too, showed
a marked progress in the fi eld of electricity. After having the inauguration of
electricity in the second half of the fi rst decade of twentieth century, the region
made a ‘great headway’ in the fi eld. The Report of the Electrical Department
of 1923-24 stated that there were 10,458 street lights, 3,223 fans, 77 motors,
35 pumps and 36 radiators in the region.51 As far as the street lights are
concerned this was indeed an instance that needs to be noted especially when
compared with a presidency like Bombay. As I have mentioned above, after
29 years of the beginnings of electricity, the total number of street lights in
Bombay was only 2,746, whereas on the other hand in Punjab, within a period
of approximately15 years after the introduction of electricity the number of
street lights had gone up to 10, 458 which was almost 4 times more than that
of Bombay. And this was achieved by Punjab in half the time than Bombay
took to reach the number of 2,746 street lights. As we saw in this paper then,
electrifi cation in India began in 1883 and some of the major Indian cities have
been electrifi ed by the 1930s.
NOTES AND REFERENCES:
1. Report of the Central Wage Board for electricity undertakings, 1969,
National Archives of India, New Delhi.
2. Ibid.
3. J.W Mears, Electrical Engineering with Particular References to Conditions
in Bengal: Six lectures delivered in March, 1900 at the Civil Engineering
College Shibpur, Bengal Secretariat Press, 1900.
4. Ibid.
5. Electric Lighting in Calcutta, , TOI, 3 Sep 3,1892
6. Suvobrata Sarkar, The Electrifi cation of colonial Calcutta: Role of
Innovators, Bureaucrats and Foreign Business Organization 1880-1940,
Studies in History, 34(1) 1–29, 2017.
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IHC: Proceedings, 78th Session, 2017 5 0 5
7. Sukanta Chaudhuri ed. , Calcutta- The Living City, OUP, 1990
8. Home Department,, Municipalities, July 1900 (B), Nos. 7, July, 1900,
National Archives of India, New Delhi
9. The uses of Electricity in Calcutta, TOI, 7 Dec,1900
10. The uses of Electricity in Calcutta, TOI, 7 Dec,1900
11. Ibid.
12. Sukanta Chaudhuri ed. , Calcutta- The Living City, OUP, 1990.
13. Sula Sarkar, Investigating the relationship between air-pollution,
population and land-use patterns in the city of Calcutta, Unpublished PhD.
thesis. University of Minnesota, 2006.
14. Home Department, Municipalities, July 1900, (B) Nos.7, National
Archives of India, New Delhi.
15. Introduction of electric trams and electric lights in Delhi Vol: I, File:
122/1902, Commissioner, Department of Delhi Archives.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Narayani Gupta, Delhi Between Two Empires, OUP, 1981
19. Delhi Notes, TOI, Nov 25, 1908
20. Ibid.
21. http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/
when-trams-plied/article4424975.ece
22. Ibid.
23. Electricity in Hyderabad: A Satisfactory Year, TOI, 22 Oct, 1931.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Electricity in Hyderabad: Last Year’s Activities, TOI, 8 Sep, 1927
27. Ibid.
28. Electricity in Hyderabad, TOI, 29 June, 1939.
29. Yenda Srinivasa Rao, Electricity, Politics and Regional Economic
Imbalance in Madras Presidency, 1900-1947, Economic and Political Weekly,
5 June, 2010,vol xlv no 23.
30. Cauvery Works: Great Extensions, TOI, 3 Nov, 1911.
31. Electricity in Mysore: New Lighting Schemes, TOI, 17 Jan, 1929.
32. Electricity in Mysore State: Recent Progress, TOI, 26 Jan 1928
33. Anekal Lines Opened: Electrifi cation in Mysore,TOI,6 Apr, 1931
34. Electricity in Mysore: Popularising it’s use, TOI, 13 Feb 1933.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Electrifi cation of rural areas: A Mysore Scheme, TOI, 20 Aug, 1936.
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506 Modern India
40. Electrifi cation of rural areas: A Mysore Scheme, TOI, 20 Aug, 1936
41. Ibid.
42. Bombay’s increasing use of Electricity: Growing Demand for Licenses,
TOI,13 Dec, 1934.
43. Street Lights in Andheri: inauguration Ceremony , TOI, 8 Jul , 1929;
44. Electric Lighting In Bandra: inauguration by the Governor, TOI; 24 Mar,
1928;
45. BOMBAY ELECTRIC TRAMS: The New Service, TOI, 9 May 1907.
46. BOMBAY ELECTRIC TRAMS: The Stopping Places, TOI, 21 May, 1907
47. Bombay’s increasing use of Electricity: Growing Demand for License,
TOI 13 Dec, 1934.
48. Lighting of Bangalore, TOI, 5 Aug, 1905
49. Electricity in Lahore, TOI, 18 Oct, 1911.
50. Jullundur Electric Supply: Inauguration Ceremony, TOI, 19 May, 1925.
51. Electricity in Punjab: Recent progress, TOI, 12 Dec, 1924
Bibliography
Chaudhuri Sukanta ed., Calcutta- The Living City, Oxford University Press,
1990.
Gupta Narayani, Delhi between Two Empires, Oxford University Press, 1981.
Rao Srinivasa Yenda,Electricity, Politics and Regional Economic Imbalance
in Madras Presidency, 1900-1947, Economic and Political Weekly, 5 June,
2010,vol xlv no 23.
Sarkar Suvabrata, The Electrifi cation of colonial Calcutta: Role of Innovators,
Bureaucrats and Foreign Business Organization 1880-1940, Studies in
History, 34(1) 1–29, 2017.
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