Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power utility,  on Friday announced that it has received the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha's five circles of WESCO consisting of Rourkela, Burla, Bhawanipatna, Bolangir, Bargargh and six circles of SOUTHCO consisting of Ganjam City, Berhampur, Aksa, Bhanjannagar, Jeypore and Rayagada. As per conditions of bid documentation, Tata Power will hold 51% equity with management control and the State-owned GRIDCO will have the remaining 49% equity stake in the company.

The license enables Tata Power to serve the consumers of Western part (WESCO) and Southern part (SOUTHCO) of Odisha with geographical spread of more than 47,000 Sq km each and will manage network of more than 100,000 ckt. kms. each. The license period for the two distribution utilities shall be 25 years.

While WESCO serves close to 2 million consumers with annual input energy of 7520 MUs, SOUTHCO serves close to 2.3 million consumers with annual input energy of 3470 MUs. With WESCO and SOUTHCO, with the addition of both the discoms, Tata Power’s consumer base will reach 10 million consumers from the present base of 5.7 million across Mumbai, Delhi, Central part of Odisha and Ajmer.

Tata Power is committed to improve and modernize the distribution system in Western and Southern Odisha. The priority of the Company is to improve reliability, reduce AT&C losses and offer excellent customer service.

Commenting on this occasion Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, "It is a proud moment for us. We are thankful to the Odisha Government and OERC for giving us this opportunity. We are committed to provide reliable, affordable and quality power supply along with superior customer service, backed by innovative technology. We constantly strive to become the most preferred distribution company in the country. The success of our Delhi, Mumbai and Ajmer Distribution including improvements in Central Odisha in a short span of time is winning the hearts of people of Odisha."

Shares of the company gained Rs 2.45, or 3.54%, to settle  at  Rs 71.65.  The total volume of shares traded  was  4,811,475 at  the BSE (Friday).