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The group will build a complete power grid to compete with the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) in the newer areas where it wants to operate
Betting on an emerging opportunity amid rising energy consumption on the outskirts of Mumbai, the Adani Group aims to invest 5,700 million pounds over five years to expand its power distribution in the metropolitan region.
The group will build a complete power grid to compete with the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) in the newer areas where it wants to operate.
In an advertisement published in several newspapers in the city on Saturday, Adani Electricity Navi Mumbai (AENM) said it has approached the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for a distribution license in areas such as Navi Mumbai, Kharghar, Panvel and Thane. along with the listed parent Adani Transmission.
Adani Group entered the power distribution business in suburban Mumbai four years ago with the ₹ 18,000 crore acquisition of beleaguered Anil Ambani Group-led Reliance Energi. The Adani Group is also building the over Rs 15,000-crore Navi Mumbai International Airport which is expected to become operational in a few years.
The group, whose assets include the Adani Ports business, is also competing to distribute electricity to the country’s largest container port JNPT located near Navi Mumbai, as well as neighboring areas such as Uran, Panvel and the industrial city of Taloja.
The parallel distribution license application filed a few months ago is the first such move by any player under the Electricity Act, 2003. The application was accepted by MERC on Friday, following which a public notice was issued.
According to a petition published by the group, it aims to invest £5,700m over five years to develop the entire infrastructure and it will take five years to build a universal service in the targeted areas.
According to power sector officials, the companies were left without parallel distribution licenses due to the large investments involved in building the entire network.
Given the infrastructure and industrial growth in the target geography, the group expects an 8% growth in electricity consumption in this area, which currently stands at 9,700 million units per year.
Compared to this, the growth of financial capital was only around 3%.
The notification said that the Adani group will serve over 5 million consumers by the end of five years starting from the issuance of the license.
It is a lengthy process to obtain an energy distribution permit, as it involves public consultations that will ultimately lead to MERC taking a final position.
The public notice states that Adani Transmission owns over 99% stake in Adani Electricity Navi Mumbai, while the company’s nominees, 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 Electricity has been distributing electricity in Mumbai for over four years and competes with Tata Power in the business. It has not been able to increase its market share in the areas it serves, and it is striving to increase it.
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