Tata Power CEO and MD Praveer Sinha have announced that the company will invest Rs 6,000 crore in Odisha. Sinha told at the Make in Odisha Conclave on Thursday that four power distribution companies in Odisha, in which Tata Power has a majority stake, have committed Rs 6,000 crore in Capex investment over the next five years.

Sinha said the company would also build 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, 1 lakh solar water pumps, microgrids and rooftop and floating solar power plants over the next five years.

He welcomed the Renewable Energy Policy 2022 unveiled by the Odisha government at the Make in Odisha conclave.

The CEO of Tata Power said that the company has been engaged in the power distribution business in Odisha and is committed to ensuring ease of doing business through the quality power supply.

“Tata Power is committed to ensuring ‘Udyog Ru Pragati’ (Progress Through Entrepreneurship) by providing high quality and affordable electricity supply, thereby creating an enabling environment for industrial development. Our expertise in electric vehicles, decentralised power generation expertise in clean and green energy products and solutions, agriculture and demand side management, will further ensure the overall sustainable development of the state,” Sinha said.

Tata Power is also partnering with Bhubaneshwar Smart City Limited (BSCL) to deploy charging infrastructure at multi-storey car parks and public facilities such as hospitals, universities, shopping malls and major city centres, he said.

The company is still in the early stages of exploring the development of a green hydrogen hub in the Paradeep area to meet industrial demand, he said, adding that Tata Power is also working with the state government on solarisation of the agricultural sector.

In addition to the 1,200 twin pumps, the company has installed more than 700 solar-powered pumps across the state for community water use. It plans to install 30,000 solar-powered water pumps over the next five years, he said.

Welcoming the country’s new Renewable Energy Policy 2022, Sinha said that offering incentives such as electricity tax exemption, toll waiver, cross-subsidy surcharge waiver and national transmission utility charge waiver is very encouraging.

He said Tata Power is working to provide electricity to remote villages by setting up microgrids. A technical feasibility study has been carried out in several villages in the Mayurbhanj district to establish a microgrid for rural/tribal economic transformation.