- Business
- CESC Limited, India's first fully integrated electrical utility company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity primarily in eastern India. The company serves over 4.7 million consumers, including domestic, industrial, and commercial users, across a 567 square kilometer licensed area in Kolkata, Howrah, and adjoining regions in West Bengal; it also operates distribution licenses in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Chandigarh, and franchisee operations in Kota, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Rajasthan, and Malegaon, Maharashtra. CESC owns and operates thermal power plants with a total capacity of approximately 2,140 megawatts, including Budge Budge Generating Station (750 MW), Southern Generating Station (135 MW), Haldia Energy Power Station (600 MW), Crescent Power Station (40 MW), and Dhariwal Power Station (600 MW) in Maharashtra; it maintains solar projects totaling 27 megawatts in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, gas turbine units for peak load, and captive coal mines supplying around 30% of coal requirements. The company provides retail electricity distribution through an extensive network of 666 circuit kilometers of extra-high voltage lines, 8,762 circuit kilometers of high voltage lines, and 13,798 circuit kilometers of low voltage lines, connecting 27 substations, 115 distribution stations, and over 8,700 low tension substations; additional services encompass consultancy, project management, business process outsourcing, property development, and online consumer platforms for billing, payments, and service requests. As the flagship of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, CESC pursues aggressive renewable expansion via subsidiaries including Purvah Green Power Private Limited and CESC Green Power Limited, highlighted by its 2025 Growth Vision 2030 targeting doubled profitability by fiscal 2030 through 3.2 gigawatts of hybrid renewable capacity by fiscal 2029 and 10 gigawatts by fiscal 2032, a Rs 32,000 crore capital expenditure on distribution enhancements, renewables, and a 3 gigawatt solar manufacturing ecosystem by 2027, in-principle approval for Rs 4,500 crore investment in solar cell, module, and energy storage facilities in Odisha, up to Rs 5,000 crore commitment for solar cell/module plants, battery manufacturing, and ancillary units, acquisition of a 63.91% stake in Purvah Green Power for Rs 205 crore in 2024 to bolster renewables, securing a 300 megawatt solar project from SECI, acquisition of Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited in early 2025, and exploration of Uttar Pradesh distribution privatization opportunities.