These companies claim they can show industries how to reduce a significant part of their expenditure on power.

This would be done in a manner that the amount of energy saved in a prescribed period of three or four years would actually go towards creating new assets for the company. Besides the customer company could go about their routine businesses without having the headache of digressing into a necessary but non-core area.

It was Thermax EPS, a joint venture between Thermax and EPS (a subsidiary of Philadelphia Power Company) which pioneered this concept of providing energy efficiency. Now DCM Shriram Consolidated has also joined the fray.

The concept is slow in picking up, because few corporates in this specialised area are able toinspire customer confidence. ``Consultants are there who are doing the job today, but there have been no gurantees on payback period, which has resulted in disillusionment,'' said DCM Shriram consolidated Chief executive for power G C Datta Roy.

Usually their job ends with preparing the report. If turnkey execution is undertaken, this is done with a lot of cuts in the original plan. With projects not being implemented in an optimal fashion, the payback is reduced - reinforcing corporate misgivings, he said.

In contrast, these energy companies or Encos as they are called, discuss closely with customers on any possible process changes involved. Energy efficiency can also be implemented in non-utility areas, but best results are achieved through changed process controls, and understandably companies are wary about this, Datta said.

The significant difference between Encos and consultants is the payback guarantee which are sign in the agreement. If the paybacks are achieved at a faster rate than originallyenvisaged, the extra returns are shared on an equal basis with the customer and the Encos company. However, in case of failure to bring in results in the specified time frame, the burden is borne by the Encos company, who have to make good the returns. Customers own the new assets created at the end of the contract.