MahaVitaran to take another shot at privatising power distribution in Mumbra, Kalwa

After a gap of about eight years and several hiccups, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co, or MahaVitaran, is again going for privatisation of electricity distribution in select circles.

The move is aimed to bring in private sector expertise which improves billing, revenue collections and ultimately lesser load shedding.

MahaVitaran has recently floated Letter of Intent for prospective distribution franchisees for privatisation of power distribution licences in select circles of Thane, Nashik and Akola.

Proposals have been invited for areas like Shil, Mumbra and Kalwa under Thane urban circle, Akola urban division and Malegaon within Nashik Zone.

Among possible other interested bidder, Kanoria Foundation owned-India Power Corp has confirmed its interest.

"MahaVitaran has invited initial interest from bidders. Most of the areas like Shil and Mumbra are small towns with 2-3 lakh populations. But we are interested and also waiting for other opportunities in Maharashtra as well as other states," Raghav Raj Kanoria, managing director of Kolkata-based India Power Corp and son of Hemant Kanoria said.

Privatisation of distribution of power in small and mid-sized towns and cities are gaining momentum with a sharp improvement in billing and collections and other companies including CESC, Adani Transmission, Torrent Power are looking into this space aggressively.

Currently, the distribution franchisee model in Maharashtra is successfully operating in certain parts of Bhiwandi by Torrent Power while Essel Utilites-owned SND Ltd takes care of distribution franchisee for Nagpur city in three divisions of Gandhibagh, Civil lines and and Mahal division.

Supplies by both these distribution franchisees have improved significantly since they started and Mahavitaran last year extended contracts for Bhiwandi Circle for 10 years till January 2027.

India Power, which started distributing power to consumers of Gaya in Bihar in 2014, has also been improving the quality as well as quantity of electricity.

"So far, the experience of running the franchisee has been encouraging. Transmission and distribution loss of about 82% has been brought down to 35% on an average. Our supplies to the licence area have almost doubled since 2014. From 35 million units, the area is now consuming 65-70 million units as quality of power has improved and also customer service," Kanoria said.

But apart from Nagpur and Bhiwandi, Maharashtra's experience has been bitter, which explains why the state is coming out with expression of interest (EOIs) after a long gap.

Mahavitaran had earlier given mandate for Aurangabad to GTL Urja Ltd and for Jalgaon to Crompton Greaves Ltd IN 2011 but the pacts were later scrapped due to mounting dues.

Proposal for Shil, Mumbra and Kalwa were initially floated in 2010, but none of the bidders could agree to most of the terms.

RENEWED ATTEMPT

• Proposals have been invited for areas including Shil, Mumbra and Kalwa under Thane urban circle, Akola urban division and Malegaon within Nashik Zone
   
• The move is aimed to bring in private sector expertise which improves billing, revenue collections and ultimately lesser load sheddings