Tata Power, on January 7, 2021, announced that it has taken over the management and operations of WESCO and SOUTHCO, on January 1, 2021, upon completion of sale process.
WESCO and SOUTHCO will operate under the company name as TP Western Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPWODL) and TP Southern Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPSODL) respectively.
Commenting on this occasion Mr Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, “It is a proud moment for us as we have ushered in the new year by commencing operations in WESCO and SOUTHCO in State of Odisha. We are committed to provide reliable, affordable and quality power supply along with superior customer service. We are thankful to the Odisha Government and OERC for giving us this opportunity and reaffirm Tata Power’s commitment of ‘Lighting up Lives’ for the people of Odisha.”
Tata Power will retain all the existing employees of WESCO and SOUTHCO, and it aims to create a successful PPP model in power sector.
As per order issued by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), Tata Power holds 51 per cent of equity with management control and the state-owned GRIDCO will have the remaining 49 per cent.
TPWODL shall now be responsible for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in five circles of WESCO covering 2 million consumers with annual input energy of 7520 million kwh in areas of Rourkela, Burla, Bhawanipatna, Bolangir, Bargargh, while TPSODL will be responsible for the distribution covering 2.3 million consumers with average energy input of 3470 million kwh and retail supply of electricity in six circles of SOUTHCO in areas of Ganjam City, Berhampur, Aksa, Bhanjannagar, Jeypore and Rayagada.
With this takeover, the company’s distribution circles will expand to the western (TPWODL) and southern part (TPSODL) of Odisha with geographical spread of more than 47,000 sq km each. It will manage a network of more than 100,000 ckm each, for a license period of 25 years.
With the inclusion of two additional distribution utilities, Tata Power expands its consumer base to 9.5 million from the present base of 5.2 million across Mumbai, New Delhi, Central part of Odisha and Ajmer.
It may be recalled that in June 2020, Tata Power similarly took over the management of CESU, a power distribution utility catering to central Odisha. (Read more).
