Bhubaneswar: Tata Power Co. Ltd was Thursday declared as the winner in bids for two electricity distribution companies (discoms) in Odisha—the Western Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (WESCO) and the Southern Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (SOUTHCO).
Tata Power’s winning bid in the Odisha government’s discoms privatization round comes after the company won a 25-year licence for distribution and retail supply of power in five circles of Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU Odisha) last December.
Odisha government for privatisation of the power distribution companies (discoms) WESCO, and SOUTHCO had invited bids on September 18, 2020. Two leading companies of India Tata Power and India Power Corporation Ltd (IPCL) submitted their bids.
While WESCO is entitled to supply electricity in Rourkela, Burla, Bargarh, Balangir, Bhawanipatna, etc. areas, SOUTHCO provided electricity to consumers in Berhampur, Aska, Bhanjanagar, Jeypore and Rayagada areas.
Notably, this is Odisha’s second attempt to privatise the aforementioned power supply companies. Earlier Reliance Infrastructure’s BSES in 1999 was the bidder of the three companies. After a decade of legal disputes and non-performance, the OERC revoked the distribution licence of the company in 2015.
Later, the state offered some cities under the franchisee model to private companies. For four circles of Odisha such as Puri, Balugaon, Khurda, and Nayagarh, Feedback Energy Distribution Company (FEDCO) Infra is the distribution franchisee.
It is pertinent to mention here that after Chandigarh, Odisha has begun the process of privatization of discoms to bring reformation in power sector.
PNN