Reliance infra wins five IT projects

Ravi Menon, Chennai/Bangalore
Business Standard
Infrastructure and power utilities company Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RInfra), a division of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has won IT consultancy projects for the five electricity distribution companies in Karnataka. The projects with a duration of four years, will also mark RInfra's debut in IT consulting for power utilities.

The five distribution companies are Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (Cescom), Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom), Hubli Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) and the Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (Gescom).Under an MoU with the five electricity boards signed on Tuesday, RInfra will develop a tech blueprint for the electricity boards and call tenders for IT support and systems integration work in the first 5-6 months. “RInfra will look at roping in empanelled IT vendors for the implementation part once the project report is submitted in 5-6 months. The report will spell out the prerequisites to be adopted while putting in place an IT implementation agency,” sources associated with the projects said.

They said that while the financial scope of the projects with these electricity boards is “not large” at present, the potential for future growth in the area is enormous. In Karnataka, the company will look at building further on its domain expertise gained from its Mumbai and Delhi electricity distribution business.

The state electricity boards (SEBs) in Karnataka are undertaking IT initiatives as a part of the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP).

The Union Ministry of Power is encouraging the adoption of IT initiatives by various state electricity boards by planning to disburse loans worth Rs 10,000 crore via the Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The SEBs will initially get funds out of this allocation as loans with the option of converting them into grants at a future date.