Essel Group eyes West Bengal for Smart City Projects, Bets Big on Integrated Smart Utilities Model

smart citiesModel proposes to offer multiple utility services under one roof, slated to be first-of-its kind

Kolkata December 10, 2014:Essel Group, India’s leading business conglomerate is making big strides towards realizing the Smart City dream of India and will bank on its flagship single-window utility offering, ‘Smart Utilities’ to set the pace for building integrated smart cities in West Bengal. The company is keen to participate in the development smart cities in the state of West Bengal. The company is targeting cities, which has population of more than 5 lacs, i.e. Kokatta, Asansol, Durgapur, Siliguri and transform them into world class smart cities within the next 5 years.

Essel Group’s integrated utilities company – Essel Utilities & Distribution Company Limited (EUDCL) will focus on nurturing smarter communities across major cities in West Bengal by undertaking projects in Power and Water Distribution Services, Municipal Solid Waste Management, Sewage Treatment, Drainage and Storm Water Management, City Wi-Fi, Cable and Broadband, City Gas Distribution and Intelligent Traffic Management Systems. These services will be offered through a single-window solution model based on SIPC (Smart Integrator and Principal Contractor) concept, thus delivering an all-in-one conduit to consumers. This will be a first-of-its kind concept where all utility services will be offered under one roof.

The company will bid for turnkey projects in West Bengal from planning and designing stage to funding and implementation of projects, in creating a smart city habitat.

 

 Speaking of the company’s vision, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group, said, “We see Smart Utilities as a blueprint for the future of smart and connected cities in India. We want to collaborate with the West Bengal State Government in delivering good governance and services to citizens and helping transform the way citizens will live, work, play and learn.”

Essel Utilities presently manages power distribution franchise in Sagar& Ujjain (MP), Muzaffarpur (Bihar) and Nagpur (Maharashtra). Shortly, the company will also be managing power distribution services for Gwalior in MP.  The company also manages the Water distribution franchise in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Bhagalpur (Bihar).

The company has also been awarded seven projects in solid waste management in Deonar (Mumbai), Jabalpur (MP), Pallavapuram (Chennai), Surat (Gujarat), Bhubaneswar (Orissa) & Bangalore (Karnataka). It further intends to foray into various other verticals such as city gas distribution & cable & broadband in major cities of India.

“With our pioneering spirit of venturing in futuristic arena, Essel Utilities will work towards developing Inclusive &SmartCities in India with world’s leading eco-system partners, thus transforming the quality of life of citizens across cities,” says Mr. Kamal Maheshwari, President, Smart City Business.

Last month, Essel group had committed to invest Rs.7500 crore towards transforming five major cities of Madhya Pradesh into state-of-the-art Smart Cities and is evaluating development projects in infrastructure utility worth 50,000 crore in the years to come, so far the Essel group has invested 5000 crore for similar projects in Madhya Pradesh.Projects of this scale will help generate employment opportunity to a huge number of people and transform the way cities and communities are designed, built and renewed to ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability.

About Essel Utilities Distribution Company (EUDCL)

Essel Group’s Integrated Utilities Company “Essel Utilities Distribution Company Limited” (EUDCL) popularly known as Essel Utilities having operations under its flagship brand of Smart Utilities. It’s India’s first consumer-centric ‘integrated utilities’ service brand delivering smart value and efficiency, committed to participating in public-private partnership projects across India for transforming the ageing public utility infrastructure into a modern state-of-the-art utility realm. EUDCL has a turnover of Rs. 830 crores (INR) and Essel Utilities presently manages power distribution franchise in Sagar& Ujjain (MP), Muzaffarpur (Bihar) and Nagpur (Maharashtra). Shortly, the company will also be managing power distribution services for Gwalior in MP.  The company also manages the Water distribution franchise in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Bhagalpur (Bihar). The company has also been awarded seven projects in solid waste management in Deonar (Mumbai), Jabalpur (MP), Pallavapuram (Chennai), Surat (Gujarat), Bhubaneswar (Orissa)& Bangalore (Karnataka).

 

It further intends to foray into various other verticals such as city gas distribution & cable & broadband in major cities of India. The company aim towards a top line revenue close to Rs. 2000 crores (INR) and a reach of more than 2 million consumer households by 2015 – 16.

About Essel Group

The Essel Group is among India’s most prominent business houses with a diverse portfolio of assets in media, packaging, entertainment, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development and education. The Group started business in 1976 with a commodity trading and export firm. Today, Essel Group of Companies is a vast conglomerate of Media, Technology, Entertainment, Packaging, Infrastructure, Education, Healthy Lifestyle & Wellness, Financial Services and Precious Metals with worldwide operations and a workforce of over 10,000 dedicated employees.