Bhubaneswar, Dec 4 (IANS): Tata Power on Friday announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the distribution and retail supply of electricity by WESCO and SOUTHCO.

As per conditions of the bid documentation, Tata Power will hold 51 per cent equity with management control while the state-owned GRIDCO will hold the remaining 49 per cent equity stake in the company, said a Tata Power statement.

Tata Power will distribute electricity in five circles of Western Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (WESCO), which consist of Rourkela, Burla, Bhawanipatna, Bolangir, Bargargh and six circles of Southern Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (SOUTHCO) -- Ganjam City, Berhampur, Aska, Bhanjannagar, Jeypore, and Rayagada.

The licensing for the two distribution utilities shall be for 25 years, the statement said.

The company has already taken over the management of the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU).

The licence enables Tata Power to serve consumers of western (WESCO) and southern parts (SOUTHCO) of Odisha with a geographical spread of more than 47,000 Sq km each and will manage the network of more than 100,000 circuit km each.

While WESCO serves close to 2.0 million consumers with an annual input energy of 7,520 MUs, SOUTHCO serves close to 2.3 million consumers with an annual input energy of 3,470 MUs, it said.

With WESCO and SOUTHCO, 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.

The company said it will retain all the existing employees of the two discoms and continue with their service conditions as per their existing policy structure.

Praveer Sinha, CEO and 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, and 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 endeavours, including improvements in central Odisha, in a short span of time is winning the hearts of people of Odisha."