Friday, December 20, 2013

Jharkhand Rural Distribution Opportunity, Expert Opinions and IUKAN 2014 Updates - Dec, 2013 Newsletter

This is a newsletter for the month of Dec, 2013 sent to mailing list of pManifold sharing Power Distribution Franchisee industry opportunities and updates. 

 Some of the recent updates from the Power Distribution Franchisee model are mentioned below. Hope, you find it useful.   

New Opportunities
  • Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) has floated tender for appointment of Rural Distribution Franchisee in its 8 areas under different sub-divisions. Last date of bid submission is 17th Dec, 2013. (More details can be seen at NIT, RFP, DFA)  
Expert Opinions
  • Views on Managed IT services for Distribution Franchisee by Mr. Ananth Chandramouli, Head - Energy and Utilities, Infosys (Read here)
Trends & Analytics
  • CARE Research recent report on Power Transmission and Distribution indicates Distribution Franchisee as a preferred model for PPP route in the sector (Read here)
Update on IUKAN Annual Conference 2014
  • In the last 2 weeks, me and my colleagues have spoken to industry leaders from over 200+ companies across power and water sectors. The response has been extremely overwhelming especially for the Best Practices Awards being launched with IUKAN. 
  • Online registration for the conference is now open. Early bird registration ends on 1st January, 2014. Use Discount code - IUKAN2014-EARLYBIRD to avail 20% discount.
  • See updated list of IUKAN Advisors here.
pManifold's Utility Practice can be viewed here, If you would like to know more about us, please contact at kunjan.bagdia@pmanifold.com.

Posted by: Kunjan Bagdia @ pManifold
Posted by at No comments:
in , , , , ,

ADB to provide $10bn assistance to India, ENPAR signs licensing agreement with Fontus Water, Best Practice Awards at IUKAN 2014 and more...

This is a newsletter sent to mailing list of pManifold, sharing Water Distribution Industry opportunities and updates.

Some of the recent updates in the Water Distribution space are shared below. 

 New Water Project Highlights in Nov-2013
  • 5.75Cr. Rs. sanctioned to Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for replacing old pipelines at Kochi more...
  • ADB to provide $10 bn assistance to India till 2017 more...
  • ENPAR Signs Licensing Agreement With Fontus Water Pvt Ltd. more..
  • Drinking Water & Sanitation Department, Jharkhand, has invited bids for the water supply project in Ranchi district more... 
  • Kerala Water Authority (KWA) soon to start 24x7 Helpline in pipeline facility more...
  • Hyderabad launches project to reduce water losses more...
Top News Highlights of Nov-2013
  • India a largest PPP market in the world more...
  • Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation's 24x7 water supply project to be reality soon more...
  • World Plumbing Conference calls for quality checks on unorganized plumbers in India more...
Articles of Nov-2013
  • Three Karnataka towns lead the way in providing 24x7 water supply in demo zonesmore...
  • Indian conglomerate Essar Group targets growth in water treatment, desalination market more...
  • Report - Water utilities in India more...
Upcoming Water Events
Case Studies
  • If you are prospecting to enter in Water Utilities as Operator or Service Provider or Vendor - learn some best practices through case studies from pManifold (Water Utility Case Studies).
Indian Utility Knowledge and Networking (IUKAN) 2014 
  • In the last 2 weeks, me and my colleagues have spoken to industry leaders from over 200+ companies across power and water sectors. The response has been extremely overwhelming especially for the Best Practices Awards being launched with IUKAN. 
  • Online registration for the conference is now open. Early bird registration ends on 1st January, 2014. Use Discount code - IUKAN2014-EARLYBIRD to avail 20% discount.
  • See updated list of IUKAN Advisors here.  
We hope you will find the content informative and useful. Your queries, feedback and suggestions are welcome. I can be reached at +91 99704 62580 and mohammad.sufiyan@pmanifold.com for any support, we can extend to your efforts.
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Views on Managed IT services for Distribution Franchisees by Mr. Ananth Chandramouli, Head - Energy and Utilities, Infosys

Mr. Ananth Chandramouli, Head - 
Energy and Utilities, Infosys 
Indian Power market has fast changed and further evolving post unbundling reforms. There is rapid emergence of various private/PPP models across Power Distribution. There is high attractiveness of the end B2C Power Distribution business, as it brings cash for all other businesses in the value chain. The recent surgence of Franchisee models in Distribution has raised the end-service delivery & price value expectations of the end-customers, which is putting more and more pressure on utilities to bring efficiencies and streamline their operations and overall IT.

pManifold team recently spoke to Mr. Ananth Chandramouli, Head - Energy & Utilities, Infosys to understand about their IT solutions Utility-in-a-box (UIB), an innovative cloud-based platform for Utilities. The below shared are author's personal views and not to be associated with any of their company's association.
  1. Please elaborate Infosys’s Utility-in-Box (UIB) IT solution? (phase wise Modules implemented, current deployment stage (whether LIVE), key features, hardware requirements, team size for setup and regular running, business engagement model (Capex vs. Opex based), next planned add-ons, etc.)
    • Infosys UIB is a cloud based solution suitable for Utilities and Distribution Franchisees (DFs). The complete platform including hardware, software, data centre etc. is hosted and managed by Infosys and available on “pay as you go” (opex) model to the Utilities/DFs. Only network connectivity at site and office infrastructure (PCs, printers etc.) has to be procured by the Utility/DF. Infosys has already done capital investment in the state of the art centralized IT infrastructure, which can be shared by multiple DFs/Utilities. This helps DFs in two ways. 
      • First, the CAPEX cost for IT is converted into recurring OPEX cost; this not only provides cash outflow predictability but also reduces the debt/equity investment by DFs.
      • Second, this common infrastructure is designed to be used by multiple DFs hence the cost of hardware, software and services cost are apportioned amongst multiple users. This allows DFs to use this infrastructure at the fraction of the cost that they would have to shell out if they buy such systems at their own.
    • UIB has pre-configured, field tested and optimized processes complying with Indian regulatory requirements so it is fast to implement and can be made up and running in about 3 months either in a big bang or phased manner depending on the readiness of the Utility/DF. This allows DFs to save substantial cost and time. It covers all key utility processes such as Connection Management (New Connection, Change of Name, Meter Shifting, Reconnection, Load Enhancement), Meter to Cash (Meter Reading, Tariff Administration, Billing, Collection), Revenue Assurance and Recovery (Disconnection and Dismantling, Vigilance), Meter Data Acquisition and Energy Audit (Meter Data Acquisition, Meter Data Management, Validation, Estimation and Energy Audit), Customer Care, Work Asset Management and Maintenance Management. 
    • UIB is Smart Grid ready and the next avatar of UIB will have even more features to help Utilities/DFs realize the vision of Smart Grid without making huge investments in IT. Few of these features are - AMI based centralized prepayment, Remote connect/disconnect, Demand Response etc.
Read more »
Posted by at No comments:
in , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)