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IT firms set to grab $2 Billion govt. power deal
By siliconindia
Mumbai: The technology firms are set to cash in on the Indian government's $2 billion deal to reform the country's power distribution network through the use of IT.
The federal government has launched a $10.86 billion (
500 billion) plan to cut power distribution losses in the country, with a fifth of the funds devoted to using Information Technology (IT) at the state run distribution companies.
"It's a massive opportunity. As a business opportunity IT companies are excited," said Rajdeep Sehrawat, Vice President, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).
Many Indian IT firms are looking for state funded projects to come over the global economic slowdown, which had reduced sector's pace of growth as their core overseas clients had cut technology spending.
"This is the next wave. In the next 3-4 years the utilities will spend a lot of money, they don't have a choice and the government is providing them a lot of money," said Vilas Kanyal, Business Unit Head, Mastek.
Under the power reforms scheme 'Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP)' many domestic and global IT firms have been selected to serve as consultants or act as implementation agencies to distribution companies.
West Bengal and Rajasthan have already bagged IT projects, while others including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are in the process of doing so, informed the government officials. "TCS bagged 1.93 billion project in West Bengal covering 62 towns," said Moloy Dey, Chairman, West Bengal State Electricity Board.
The company has also been selected as lowest bidder for a project worth 2.93 billion in Madhya Pradesh, while HCL won a project in Rajasthan worth 5.29 billion for the entire state.
Under RAPDRP, IT work will include setting up data centres, disaster recovery backups, Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, and imply applications for reading meters, billing and collection, energy accounting and auditing and consumer grievance redressal. "About 30 plus distribution companies have identified IT consultants for RAPDRP," said a federal power ministry official requesting anonymity.
Typically, these IT implementation projects could be worth about 1-6 billion while IT consultants could earn a fraction of that range, industry players said.
500 billion) plan to cut power distribution losses in the country, with a fifth of the funds devoted to using Information Technology (IT) at the state run distribution companies.
"It's a massive opportunity. As a business opportunity IT companies are excited," said Rajdeep Sehrawat, Vice President, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).
Many Indian IT firms are looking for state funded projects to come over the global economic slowdown, which had reduced sector's pace of growth as their core overseas clients had cut technology spending.
"This is the next wave. In the next 3-4 years the utilities will spend a lot of money, they don't have a choice and the government is providing them a lot of money," said Vilas Kanyal, Business Unit Head, Mastek.
Under the power reforms scheme 'Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP)' many domestic and global IT firms have been selected to serve as consultants or act as implementation agencies to distribution companies.
West Bengal and Rajasthan have already bagged IT projects, while others including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are in the process of doing so, informed the government officials. "TCS bagged 1.93 billion project in West Bengal covering 62 towns," said Moloy Dey, Chairman, West Bengal State Electricity Board.
The company has also been selected as lowest bidder for a project worth 2.93 billion in Madhya Pradesh, while HCL won a project in Rajasthan worth 5.29 billion for the entire state.
Under RAPDRP, IT work will include setting up data centres, disaster recovery backups, Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, and imply applications for reading meters, billing and collection, energy accounting and auditing and consumer grievance redressal. "About 30 plus distribution companies have identified IT consultants for RAPDRP," said a federal power ministry official requesting anonymity.
Typically, these IT implementation projects could be worth about 1-6 billion while IT consultants could earn a fraction of that range, industry players said.