The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) has signed a franchise agreement for power distribution in Kota and Bharatpur in Rajasthan from August, which is likely to generate Rs 750 crore revenue for the company.
“Last Friday, we signed a franchisee agreement with the Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam for a 20-year period power distribution, and we will begin operations from August,” said CESC chairman Sanjiv Goenka Wednesday. The agreement was signed on June 17.
According to Goenka, the power utilities company would inject Rs 150 crore in the first year for the two operations, and is expected to serve nearly 2.3 lakh consumers, about half of which comprise industrial or commercial consumers spread over 200 sq km. CESC is already into power distribution in Noida, besides Kolkata and Howrah.
The company had floated two SPVs for the license, and won the bid by paying the highest for input power at Rs 4.26 a unit from the Rajasthan State Electricity Board. While the Kota distribution franchise is spread over 150 sq km with 1.76 lakh registered consumers, the Bharatpur franchise has an area of 50 sq km with nearly 48,000 registered consumers.
The twin franchises will be wholly owned subsidiaries of the CESC, the peak load will be 240 MW, Goenka said. The company, he added, would purchase power from Rajasthan State Electricity Board at Rs 4.26 per unit.
According to Goenka, bringing down the transmission and distribution loss to 30 per cent would be a challenge, “but we have the knowledge to manage that from our experience in Kolkata and Noida”. He also said the company was focusing on increasing its revenue from distribution, and will continue to bid for new distribution licenses.
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