The first thermal power plant of Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) was commissioned on this day. This began thermal power generation in India. This was only 11 years after London’s electrification and 17 years after New York’s.
The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited was registered in London in 1897.
In Kolkata, the initial charges for electricity were the same as in London: Re 1 per unit of power.
According to the CESC website, a newspaper reported on December 6, 1898, that on a trial basis, electricity was being supplied to the Bank of Bengal, The Bengal Club and a few private residences.
Newspapers reported that the electric corporation is “spending 100,000 pound sterling” on lighting Kolkata. “Mains have been laid for the supply of 60,000 lamps, which can be increased to 200,000. The supply will be continuous throughout the twenty-four hours and each day, and is well-adapted for working punkahs,” the website quotes a report.
It adds that the first plant, located in Emam-baugh Lane, “consists of three boilers of 500 horse-powers which can be extended to 800 horse-powers, if desired, with eight dynamos and a storage battery... The chimney will be the highest in Kolkata, being 40ft higher than the water works chimney which is close by.”
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