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Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) announced that regulatory proceedings for its applications seeking parallel electricity distribution licences in Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Mundra (Gujarat) have been completed, and the company is now awaiting final orders from the respective state regulatory commissions. “We are open for both the routes of expanding into distribution which is either privatisation or parallel licensing. We applied for a parallel license for Navi Mumbai and Mundra areas, as well as Ghaziabad and Jewar in Uttar Pradesh. The regulatory process for Navi Mumbai and Mundra is over. We are expecting orders from the regulatory commission very soon as proceedings have been completed. We expect some movement on parallel license from these two geographies,” said Kandarp Patel, CEO of one of the largest private transmission, distribution and smart metering company in the country. Talking about competition for parallel licenses, Patel during an interaction with investors said on Tuesday, “In Mundra nobody has applied, but in Navi Mumbai other players have also applied.. Practically I believe that once you have two distribution companies, interest from a third distribution company will reduce significantly in a particular geography.” A parallel distribution licensee means a new entrant gets licence rights to serve consumers in an area that already has an incumbent licensee, which is often a state-discom. AESL CEO also told investors that if a parallel distribution licence is granted, the company will focus on constructing its own electricity distribution network as it will ensure better quality of services. AESL serves more than 12 million consumers in metropolitan Mumbai and the industrial hub of Mundra SEZ. The company said it is also “eagerly awaiting” the RPF from Uttar Pradesh government which has proposed to privatise a couple of state discoms in the state Challenges for Transmission projects Meanwhile, AESL which has an order pipeline of Rs 60000 crore worth of transmission projects said it was facing challenges with regard to Right-of-way and skilled manpower. “Right of way and skilled manpower is a problem. Our approach towards Right of Way is different. While we use the government machinery and the power available under Section 68 and 164, we also directly negotiate with the farmer,” Patel said. Pointing out how the company has developed good relations with EPC players, the official said that the company works only with a “few chosen” EPC players. “This year we have taken a very unique initiative. We have started our training facilities and we are going online from November 1 this year. We will be training about 1200 people for transmission line erection and with that all our requirements shall be met. We will train these people and give them to our EPC partners,” Patel said, adding that the company hopes to commission at least three transmission projects worth Rs 12000 crore during the remaining part of the current fiscal. Slowdown in Smart meter installations AESL said its smart meter installation rates went down during the second quarter due to the monsoon in several parts of the state. “The installation rates reduced in the last quarter, as compared to the first quarter. It was essentially due to early rains which are continuing till now. Geographies like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Assam, Bihar have witnessed a lot of rain. That has impacted the progress. But now we are catching up and have reached 20000 installations as of now. We want to push it up to 30000 installations per day. All the resources are lined up accordingly and materials and manpower is available for achieving 30000,” said Patel. The company said it was also eyeing the opportunity for installing 10 crore smart meters that are expected to come from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, MP and Punjab, in the next one year. Published on October 29, 2025
