To pump in Rs 5700 crore to expand the discom network | Rare Techy

Bringing new areas under its network, Adani power will build the entire power grid to compete with the state-owned Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company.

Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group.

Photo: PTI

The Adani Group entered power distribution in suburban Mumbai four years ago with the Rs 18,000-crore acquisition of Anil Ambani Group-run Reliance Energy. The Adani Group is also building the over Rs 15,000-crore Navi Mumbai International Airport which is expected to start operations in a few years.

The group, whose assets include the Adani Port business, is also looking to distribute power to the country’s largest container port JNPT located near Navi Sukabumi as well as nearby areas such as Uran, Panvel and the industrial city of Taloja.

The parallel distribution license application submitted a few months ago is the first move by any player under the Electricity Act 2003. The application was accepted by MERC on Friday, after which a public notice had been issued.

According to the petition announced by the group, it aims to invest Rs 5,700 crore over five years to develop the entire infrastructure and it will take five years to build universal service capabilities in the targeted areas.

According to power sector officials, the company has stayed out of the parallel distribution license because of the heavy investment involved in building the entire network.

Given the infrastructure and industrial growth in the target geography, the group is expecting an 8 percent growth in power consumption in the region, which stands at 9,700 million units per annum as of now.

Compared to this, the growth in the financial capital was only about 3 percent.

The notification states that the Adani group will serve more than 5 lakh customers by the end of five years from the date of grant of license. It is a long process to obtain a license to distribute power, as it involves public consultation that will ultimately lead MERC to take the final view.

The public notice says that Adani Transmission has more than 99 percent equity in Adani Electricity Navi Sukabumi, while the nominees of the listed company, including Pranav Adani, have a very marginal holding. Power industry veterans Anil Kumar Sardana, Rohit Soni and Mehul Rupera are the directors of AENM.

Adani Listrik has been distributing power in Sukabumi for over four years and competes with Tata Power in the business. It has not been able to increase its market share in the area it serves, and has been looking to increase the same.