Power distribution franchise in Rajasthan won by CESC

The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group owned power utility company CESC Ltd. on Wednesday said it has bagged the franchise for electricity distribution in Kota and Bharatpur in Rajasthan with the operations to begin in August. The agreement has been signed with Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd. for distributing power for 20 years."We will be making a capital expenditure of Rs 150 crore in the first year in the twin projects and the turnover from them will be Rs 750 crore," the company's chairman Sanjiv Goenka said. "The agreement was signed on June 17 and the operations will begin in August," he said. While the Kota distribution franchise is spread over 150 sq km with 1.76 lakh registered consumers, the Bharatpur franchise has an area of 50 sq km with nearly 48,000 registered consumers.The twin franchises are wholly owned subsidiaries of the CESC. Goenka said the peak load will be 240 MW and the company will be purchasing the power from Rajasthan State Electricity Board at Rs 4.26 per unit. He also said the company was focussing on increasing its revenue from distribution and will continue to bid for new distribution licenses.IANS