Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) entered its last leg of preparations ahead of the initiation of its underground cabling project in Visakhapatnam.
The discom is also set to convene a series of meetings with the delegates from the World Bank, consultants from the state-run Power Finance Corporation Limited and other stakeholders involved in the project in the next few days to finalise the proposals.
Financially supported by the World Bank, the project is aimed at revamping the existing overhead electricity distribution network to underground system in Visakhapatnam.
On Monday too, a World Bank team visited the corporate office of the APEPDCL to discuss the proposals. After cyclone Hudhud severely battered the electricity supply system of the city, the World Bank agreed to extend financial assistance to the underground cabling project under the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project. In the first phase of the project, the work would commence at 21 substations in Zone-1 in Vizag, which are more prone to the brunt of disasters given their proximity to the coastline.
Executive Director (Quality Control and World Bank Projects), APEPDCL, B. Ramesh Prasad, informed that they would hold a series of meetings with all the stakeholders and experts to discuss the proposals before hitting the ground running. A consultant of Power Finance Corporation would visit the discom on Tuesday.
Another round of meetings with the World Bank team would be held on June 7 and 8 in Visakhapatnam to finalise the proposals, he added.
Elaborating about their recent Kolkata visit to study the underground cabling project, Mr Prasad said the study tour provided a unique opportunity to observe the best practices adopted in the underground cabling project in Kolkata.
“We could also ensure the state-of-the-art infrastructure utilised by the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, which is a flagship company of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and has more than 100 years of expertise,” he said.
“We expect the underground cabling project to take another one month to get final approval and we would convene a pre-bid meeting before calling the tenders,” Mr Prasad added.
Earlier, it was proposed to merge the water pipelines and others with the underground power cabling works.
But now there is no clarity as to whether the Discom would sail along with others or go solely given the technicalities involved in the project such as cost, space and others.
