The country’s largest private power utility Tata Power is pursuing overseas opportunities in Africa and West Asia for its distribution business.
At present, the company is present in Mumbai and Delhi as a power distributor. It recently won the distribution franchise for the Jamshedpur circle in Jharkhand.
“We see a huge scope for expanding our distribution business pan-India. We are also seeing opportunities overseas for providing our technical services in the distribution sector overseas,” Tata Power Managing Director Anil Sardana told PTI in an interview.
“Recently, Bihar has come out with franchise bids and we have participated in the request for qualification process. We may also participate in some cities,” he said.
Technical services
On the overseas front, the company has already made a foray into Nigeria for providing technical services for Benin Distribution Company. The bid was won by its distribution arm Tata Power Delhi Distribution (TPDDL).
The Nigerian Government had decided to privatise eleven state-owned distribution companies as part of power sector reforms. About 54 companies participated in the bidding.
TPDDL had bid for Eko and Ikeja discoms as a member of the Oando Consortium, while for Benin Discom, the company had formed a consortium with Viego Holding.
“With this, we have made a small beginning in distribution management overseas and hope it will be a good experience us for to look for more options in other countries,” Sardana said.
Transmission & distribution solutions
The company has also signed an agreement for providing transmission and distribution solutions for an upcoming township in Kenya. “Discussions are being held with a leading developer for providing transmission and distribution solutions in many other African and Sub-Saharan African nations,” he added.
The company is also evaluating business prospects in West Asia to offer comprehensive electricity management solutions which will include distribution, Sardana said.
Distribution business
Tata Power plans to spend Rs 250-350 crore every year in the Mumbai distribution business till FY’16 to increase its reach, especially in retail space. The company has over 1.5 lakh direct customers in Mumbai.
“In Delhi, we have already invested close to Rs 4,000 crore in network enhancement for the last 10 years and are evaluating future investments subject to reduction in regulatory assets amounting to Rs 4,000 crore,” he said.
With predominantly industrial load consumption, this region has a consumer base of over 8 lakh.
In Jamshedpur, over the next three years, the company will be investing around Rs 400 crore of R-APDRP funds and around Rs 100 crore of its own funds, he said.