MSEDCL signs distribution franchisee agreement with Torrent Power;

Torrent Power to distribute power in Bhiwandi soon

Mumbai, 20th December, 2006 : The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) and the Ahmedabad based Torrent Power Limited signed the Distribution Franchisee agreement for Bhiwandi circle today. MSEDCL is the Distribution Company undertaking supply of electricity in the state of Maharashtra. Torrent Power would take up the distribution of power to 1.6 lac customers in Bhiwandi circle. “It gives me great pleasure to flag off the first of its kind public-private partnership not only in Maharashtra but in the country” said Shri Jayant Kawale, Principal Secretary, Energy.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Managing Director of MSEDCL said, “This is a unique concept which will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders, MSEDCL, Torrent Power and most importantly, the customers in Bhiwandi circle.”

Torrent Power is expected to take over the operations from 15 th January 2007. Meanwhile, Torrent Power has already begun the ground work for taking over the operations in Bhiwandi.

“Over the years, we have built up efficiencies in our distribution networks. We would ensure that high efficiencies and reliability coupled with good customer services are brought to Bhiwandi” said Mr. Murli Ranganathan of Torrent Power.

Torrent Power, which currently distributes 7 billion units power to over 1.8 million customers in the cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat in Gujarat, has one of the lowest T&D losses in the country at 9.67% and a has one of the highest power reliability at 99.85%. Torrent Power has been the pioneer in providing customer friendly solutions like 24X7 call centre, mobile vans for providing onsite services, multiple payment options etc. due to which there exists a high degree of customer satisfaction.

Torrent Power is implementing an 1147.5 MW gas-based Greenfield generation project near Surat which is expected to be commissioned by the third quarter of 2007. While Torrent Power has stakes in the entire value chain of the power business, viz. Generation, Transmission and Distribution, it was recently declared the best “Power Distribution Management Company”