Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport

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[edit] Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport

--Self nom: The 'Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport', (better known as the BEST) is the public transport company and electricity provider of Mumbai, India. It has a very interesting history from horse drawn trams to electric trams, electricity generation and later buses. User:Nichalp/sg 14:39, August 28, 2005 (UTC)

• Support. Another great effort by Nichalp. pamri 15:12, August 28, 2005 (UTC)
• Support. Well done Nichalp!! Great work. Meets all the requirements of FA - interesting, factually accurate, NPoV, images and references.--May the Force be with you! Shreshth91($ |-| r 3 $ |-| t |-|) 15:43, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
• Support, well written, informative and a good read. Deserves to be a FA in my opinion. WegianWarrior 06:27, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
• Support, another good article on a lesser known subject. -- Sundar ^{\talk \contribs} 07:23, August 29, 2005 (UTC)
• Support, interesting, well written/illustrated/referenced. Rossrs 13:41, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
• Object, for the following reasons:
  • The Finance section still needs more details.
    • Is the company subsidised by the government?
    • Is the company expected to maximize profit?
    • What were the "new management techniques" that reduced losses?
    • Why can't the company hike (increase) utility and transport prices? Do they need government/parliamentary approval? Or is it just that they are expected to keep prices at the lowest posssible value that is sustainable for their business?
    • Does the company pay the government dividends?
  • Some corporate information such as the company's vision, mission statement and goals would be helpful. There's no need to be too detailed a couple of sentences will do.
  • The article states "with a consumption of 3,216 million units" but what are the units? Are they kilowatt-hours?
  • The MERC pdf is not properly linked.
  • The New Oxford American dictionary defines a public company as "a company whose shares are traded freely on a stock exchange." The infobox is therefore misleading to those who interpret it this way.
  • The "Bombay Omnibus Service" is not explained try something like "Bombay Omnibus Service, an existing transport company,"
  • "The bus service served as the common mode of transport for the middle and upper middle classes, while the trams were relegated as the poor man's transport." Why? It need only be a short explaination for example, "Due to higher-priced fares, the bus service..."
  • "cr." in the infobox should be linked to crore and try using "$... USD" instead of "... US$"
  • "This astute move" is POV, try "This move"
  • "Alternating current" and "Direct current" are not proper nouns.
  • "resulting in the BEST securing a complete monopoly over bus services in the Greater Bombay area." Why?
  • "These buses have a capacity of 110, and were introduced in 1997." - no need for the comma.
  • "Expresses buses" is grammatically incorrect, try "Express buses".
  • Does BEST generate any power? From the sound of the article they are involved strictly in power distribution. If this is so, this point needs to be made clear.
  • Volt is typically denoted by a capital "V" making a kilovolt "kV"
  • "bifurcated into two regions" is a tautology. Consider replacing "bifurcated" with a simpler word such as "divided".
  • Something describing the quantity of power the company distributes is necessary.

Good article though. I may have a few more comments soon. As I said for In-N-Out further insights into business strategy are always welcome. Cedars 16:15, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

• • 1. I've replaced Public by "Private (govt. owned)". I hope this is acceptable.
    2. As far as the Bombay Omnibus Service goes, there's no report of its prior existance or if it was newly formed back them. Source Any suggestions what to do here?
    3. Modified to: The trams meanwhile, due to its lower fares were relegated as the poor man's transport.
    4. cr. in the infobox linked, $--USD done.
    5. astute removed. (Thanks for noticing it)
    6. AC and DC made common nouns
    7. Court issue: modified the paragraph.
    8. comma removed
    9. Expressess buses was a genuine typo. Corrected.
    10. That is mentioned in the history section, just above the =advent= section. I've reinforced this in the =Power= section.
    11. kv corrected to kV
    12. bifurcated --> divided
    13. Quantity in MW? I'm not sure. I have the Tata figures (2.7 GW) with me, but part of this figure is also supplied to other companies. I've emailed the TATA site. Will add once I get a reply. (PS I do have some exact figures, but those are dated.)
    14. 1) Its not subsidised by the government (inote+link ref added), 2) Not sure about maximizing profits. 3) Added some info on new techniques.

Thanks for the suggestions. User:Nichalp/sg 19:22, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

1. I have no references stating that the Bombay Omnibus Company existed or was a proposed company then. If I modify the text to "an existing company", it may be incorrect. I would prefer not to modify.

I realize I misread your response, the objection was a minor one so I've now crossed it out.

1. resulting in the BEST securing a complete monopoly over bus services in the Greater Bombay area has been modified to That year the Undertaking and private operators went to court with the BEST asking for a complete closure of the private companies. The case dragged on for four years before the Supreme Court of India granted the organisation a complete monopoly over bus services in the Greater Bombay area. Is this Ok, or should is there somthing you still want addressed?

I'm guessing some specific piece of legislation was central in that decision. What was the name of that legislation?

1. Quantity of power. I'm waiting for a reply email. If I don't get one in time, would a dated (1998 exact, or 2002 approx) figure do?

Dated figures are fine.

1. Is the company expected to maximize profit. I think all companies would like to maximize profits, please let me know what is meant by that.

A related question is does the company pay dividends to the government? Australia Post does but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation doesn't. One of the aims of Australia Post is profitbility but not so with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation whose main aim is to engage their audience. As a result of this, the ABC continues to forego advertising despite the way this obviously hurts their profitability. The thing with a state-owned enterprise is that it may not actually aim to make a profit but rather to provide the best, most affordable service to the public it can. For example rather than charging 8c/kWh the company may instead charge 5c/kWh even though the 8c/kWh may be more profitable. This may be because the company's aim is to serve the community and only turn as much profit as is necessary for infrastructure expansion.

Good work! Cedars 23:56, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

1) I've added information on the company not maximising its profits as it is a public utility company. 2) I can't find any additional information on the BEST website on the supreme court ruling. Its a long time back, to additional online references are non-existant. 3) Added power in MW (dated 2000). User:Nichalp/sg 17:00, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

1) The company can hike the fares, but BMC approval is needed. It was already mentioned, but I've reinforced this in =Finances=. 2) There's no clear cut vision statement. Its embedded here and there in the text. eg. GPS in =transport=, solar power in =electricity=. I have added a note on its 'digitisation project' in =organisation=. I think it qualifies as a major goal. 3) pdf link corrected 4) KWH added to units. 5) Dividends.: It would have to make a tidy profit first :) There's nothing mentioned on the site about this: [1]. I don't suppose govt owned companies do, but since I have no references, I can't add. User:Nichalp/sg 08:04, September 1, 2005 (UTC)