'FOCUS ON HOW TO BE MORE CONSUMER CENTRIC'

Tata Power is betting big on the future of renewables as the over 100-year-old company expands across the value chain of India's power sector. In a conversation with Ayaan Kartik and Neeraj Thakur in Mumbai, Tata Power's managing director and chief executive Praveer Sinha says he is optimistic about the green power economy and his company's place in it. Edited excerpts

- Ayaan Kartik, Neeraj Thakur

What are the trends shaping the power sector right now?

The power sector has been doing very well for the last two years. There is a huge increase in demand that we have seen. Last year, the increase was nearly 10%. This year, it is around 9%–9.5%. In March and April, we saw 10% plus. The demand has been high in residential areas, both urban and rural.

What were Tata Power’s takeaways from the last fiscal?

Tata Power has been transitioning into many new areas over the last few years. One of the new areas it is looking at is how to be more consumer centric. This is reflected in our takeover of the distribution business in Odisha. The number of consumers has increased to 10 million. More and more consumers are coming into the whole power supply ecosystem.

When we went there [Odisha], many consumers had to wait six to eight months for new connections. Now, our new connections are given in less than seven days and complaints are dealt with. The quality of service has improved.

Another big thing that has happened is we have gone into renewables right across. We have also gone into manufacturing. We have set up our own solar cell and module plant. This is an enhancement of our existing capacity as we were already doing something like 600 MW [megawatt] of solar cells and modules. Through the expansion, we have added another 4.3 GW [gigawatt].