~ Successfully overcame the challenges posed by the cyclone YAAS recently ~
Tata Power's TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd. (TPCODL) today celebrated the completion of the first year of its successful operations in Odisha. Since its acquisition a year ago, TPCODL has consistently presented sustainable, affordable and innovative energy solutions to its customers in Odisha.
As India's largest private sector power distribution company, Tata Power currently caters to a customer base of 2.6 million in five circles of Central Odisha and has a total customer base of 9 million across the entire state. Since its takeover, TPCODL has also replaced 2.6 lakh defective meters. The company focused on preventive & predictive maintenance activities and improved reliability of power supply.
During this period, the company undertook several customer-centric initiatives such as the setting up of five customer care centers, including two All-Women Customer Care Centre at Cuttack and Puri. Besides this, it also introduced a new bill format for customers, offered cashbacks, allowed paying the bill via e-wallets like Amazon Pay, Paytm or PhonePe and launched the "Pay & Win" contest for customers using other digital payment methods to pay their monthly power bills with zero arrears. These initiatives not only increased the online collection of the bills by 103 % but also indicated a high success rate in resolving customer complaints in the first attempt.
On the one-year milestone, Mr Sanjay Banga, President - T&D, Tata Power, said, "We are extremely thrilled to celebrate our maiden year of the Odisha Distribution. Given Tata Power's track record of success and its expertise in the distribution business, we will continue to stay committed to providing reliable, affordable and quality power supply along with a superior customer service in Odisha."
Quick restoration of power supply post the recent cyclone 'YAAS' which left a trail of devastation in its wake in the country's eastern coast, bringing heavy rains, damaging houses, destroying farmlands and disrupting the electrical network was the testament of TPCODLs commitment of superior customer service. With the continuous monitoring, systematic patrolling of feeders and clearing of network lines, TPCODL was able to restore 70% of the power supply within 8 hours of landfall. TPCODL also ensured 100% power supply to the twin cities (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar) with systematic maintenance of its network. This was possible due to TPCODLs meticulous and structured approach of Business Continuity & Disaster Management Plan which ensured placement of men, material & tools to tackles in the situation along with good communication & transportation system with defined roles and responsibilities for completion of restoration in the least possible time. The quick restoration was achieved with the guidance of honourable Chief Minister and the outstanding support provided by the entire government due to their rich experience of handling such calamities which helped in overcoming many challenges.
"We are glad to celebrate the first anniversary of TPCODL. Despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, we have managed to successfully implement various customer-centric initiatives along with the digital push, making it a very successful and fruitful year. On behalf of the entire TPCODL family, I would like to thank our customers for their co-operation and assure our continued support in the years ahead," said Mr M. Shenbagam, Chief Executive Officer, TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited.
Additionally, TPCODL also undertook various employee-centric initiatives which involved the direct employment of about 500 individuals and indirect employment of over 8,000 individuals through business associates. It also introduced 'Gyankosh', an e-Learning Platform for enhancing employee competency, introduced 10 lakh GPA for all business associates as a part of social security for all of them, undertook proactive safety measures to ensure a safe workplace for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, offered career growth opportunities to the erstwhile CESU employees through both Horizontal & Vertical movement, digitalized processes like network maintenance, procurement, material management, meter reading, billing including HR and other support .
Besides, TPCODL team introduced technological innovations, including the introduction of Wide Parallel Beam (WPB) poles, which have a higher tensile strength and are low cost compared to the RS Joist pole along with it initiated the study to design a cyclone-resilient network. The company's STS Team scheduled grid audits to test all equipment at grid substations and assess their condition and plan for equipment replacement / refurbishment in a phased manner, implemented 5S at all substations - colour coding, systematic sorting and cleanliness drives, initiated the preventive maintenance of 33/11kV structures and lines to enhance the network availability and improve reliability, re-conditioned in-house transformers and undertook theme-based training for over 500 BA people. TPCODL has also started GIS, SCADA and customer mapping and claims to make all four discoms Smart Grid-compliant in the next three years.
The company also built a healthy network for the High Transmission (HT) and Low Transmission (LT) lines by starting a monthly review of top 10 tripping feeders and are taking appropriate measures to prevent this in the future.
The acquisition of management of CESU in June'20 followed by WESCO (2 million customers) & SOUTHCO (2.3 million customers) in Jan'21 and NESCO (2 million customers) in Feb'21, has marked a new milestone for Tata Power. The company's focus now lies in managing the entire power distribution business of the State with a consumer base of 90 lakh.
About Tata Power:
Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company and, together with its subsidiaries & jointly controlled entities, has an installed/ managed capacity of 12,808 MW. A pioneer in the field, it has a presence across the entire power value chain - generation of renewable as well as conventional power including hydro and thermal energy, transmission & distribution, coal & freight, logistics and trading. With nearly 3.9 GW of clean energy generation from solar, wind, hydro and waste heat recovery accounting for 31% of the company's portfolio, Tata Power is a leader in clean energy generation. In line with the company's view on sustainable and clean energy development, Tata Power is steering the transformation of utilities to integrated solutions by looking at new business growth in distributed generation through rooftop solar and micro grids, storage solutions, EV charging infrastructure, ESCO, home automation & smart meters. It has successful public-private partnerships in generation, transmission & distribution in India namely 'Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd.' with Delhi Vidyut Board for distribution in North Delhi; 'Tata Power Ajmer Distribution Ltd.' with Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. for distribution in Ajmer; 'Powerlinks Transmission Ltd.' with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. for evacuation of Power from Tala hydro plant in Bhutan to Delhi; 'Maithon Power Ltd.' with Damodar Valley Corporation for a 1050 MW Mega Power Project at Jharkhand and recently entered into public-private partnership for Northern ,Central, Western and Southern part of Odisha namely, "TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL)", "TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited", "TP Western Odisha Distribution Limited" and "TP Southern Odisha Distribution Limited". Tata Power is serving around 12 million distribution consumers in India and has developed the country's first 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra (Gujarat) based on super-critical technology.
With its 106 years track record of technology leadership, project execution excellence, world-class safety processes, customer care and driving green initiatives, Tata Power is poised for multi-fold growth and committed to 'lighting up lives' for generations to come. Visit us at: www.tatapower.com
