In a bid to provide quality electricity to consumers and farmers, Odisha government today decided to invest Rs 3,600 crore within next four years in the power sector, official sources said.

The decision in this regard was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. While the state will invest Rs 2,600 crore in construction of new 33/11 kv substations, another Rs 1,000 crore to be invested in installation of dedicated feeders for agriculture and fishery sectors, sources added.

"The state cabinet today approved two separate proposals of investments in power sector," said Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra adding that both the projects would be implemented in next four years.

Asked about the return from the state's huge investment in the power sector, Mohapatra said the Energy department has estimated to reduce ATC (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) losses by three per cent. "Reduction of one per cent of ATC will benefit the state by Rs 85 crore. Therefore, the state will benefit by Rs 255 crore annually in case ATC loss is reduced by three per cent," he said.

The prevailing ATC in odisha remained at about 40 per cent, said Energy secretary P K Jena adding that the state government has planned to float tenders soon for construction of 520 new 33/11 KV sub-stations.

Though the state already have 573 existing sub-stations, they were not enough to meet the demands. It also affects voltage supplied to consumers at the tail end.

According to an estimation, the state required about 1200 substations in order to suppl quality power to the consumers, Jena said.

The Energy secretary said the state government has already identified land required for installation of new sub-stations. While a 33 KV sub-station will have line length up to 30 km, the electricity supply line length of each 11 KV substation to be limited with 20 KM.

"The department has already prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) of each new sub-stations," he said. ? Replying a question, chief secretary J K Mohapatra said the cabinet today decided not to give ownership of such new sub-stations to distribution companies though they would operate and maintain them.

The state owned Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) would be owner of all the new subs-stations to be installed at the cost of Rs 2,600 crore, he said.

On the second proposal involving investment of Rs 1,000 crore, Mohapatra said the energy department has decided to take up the responsibility of promoting agriculture and pisiculture by way of installation of dedicated agriculture and fisheries feeders for supply of quality power.

"OPTCL will be the nodal agency to implement the project and it may engage an external agency/ project management consultant for management, monitoring and supervision of the project including third party inspection," Mohapatra said.

Stating that the scheme envisages investment of Rs 1,000 crore to be spent in 4 years from 2013-14 to 2016-17, Mohapatra said Rs 150 crore has been earmarked for 2013-14 fiscal.

Replying a question, the chief secretary said that the assets will be handed over to distribution companies which will bear the maintenance charge as may be approved by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).

With provision of dedicated feeders, the farmers and fishermen can get round the clock quality electricity, he said.