Mumbai: Maharashtra plans to invest 70 billion rupees ($1.56 billion) in two years to strengthen its power distribution network, a top official of the state-run distribution utility said.
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDC) would upgrade its infrastructure and install new equipment in some areas, Managing Director Sanjay Bhatia said on Friday.
"Everything has been tied up, all approvals have been taken. We should be inviting tenders within the next 2-3 weeks," Bhatia said.
The infrastructure plan would help lower load-shedding and help cut transmission and distribution losses from the current 29 per cent by nearly a third, Bhatia said.
The company had arranged for long-term loans worth 50 billion rupees from Power Finance Corp Ltd and Rural Electrification Corp Ltd, he said.
Maharashtra, among the most industrially advanced states in the country, faces a deficit of 4,500 megawatts.
As a result, it has resorted to planned power cuts ranging from 4 to 12 hours a day.
MSEDC, carved out from Maharashtra State Electricity Board in 2005, distributes power to the entire state except capital Mumbai, catered to by private suppliers.
The Dabhol power plant, which restarted operations earlier this month after lying idle for five years, would supply 650 MW initially, Bhatia said.
"Even with that supply, we may only reduce the unplanned power cuts," he said, but expected respite by the end of 2006.
Expected generation capacity addition worth about 1,000 MW in the next few months would also ease the shortage, he added.
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