India Power Corporation Ltd lines up investment to strengthen distribution infrastructure in Bihar

KOLKATA: India Power Corporation Ltd (IPCL) plans to invest at least Rs 33 crore as the first tranche towards beefing up power distribution infrastructure at Gaya and Bodh Gaya in Bihar.

Chairman Hemant Kanoria said the company has submitted its plan to upgrade infrastructure and induct new power distribution technology to the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) and is awaiting a formal approval to start work.

In June 2014, IPCL’s wholly owned subsidiary, India Power Corporation (Bodhgaya) Ltd, entered into an agreement with South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd for a 15-year distribution franchise for supply of power to Gaya, Bodh Gaya and Manpur areas of Bihar.

Kanoria said the company has identified core areas which would need management and investment interventions to ensure quality service to the customers of Gaya.

It is still too early for IPCL to track any changes in power demand profile and future projections of power from consumers, he said. But aggregate power consumption has gone up with increase in hours of supply since the company has taken charge of distribution, though sector-wise demand has not changed, he added.

He said the company had initiated consumer awareness programmes in tandem with the requisite changes to existing infrastructure, like providing improved earthings to ensure reliability and quality of supply as well as consumer safety.

It has put in place a call centre aligned with its operational control room for daily monitoring and take customer feedback and complaints. On similar lines, four customer-care centres and 130 bill collection counters have been linked across the command area for error-free billing, bill collection and to deal with other customer-related issues.