What It Takes To Keep the Lights On: The People Who Transformed Odisha’s Power Story

This article is published in partnership with Tata Power. 

The storms that test electricity

The wind stung like sand on skin. In a flooded lane outside Ganjam, a lineman steadied a pole as rain hurled sideways, while his team inched forward with ropes and ladders. 

“People today cannot imagine a night without electricity,” says Chandan Das, Superintendent Engineer, TPSODL. “Even when vehicles could not move, our people carried poles on their shoulders.”

Odisha, on India’s eastern coast, has long lived with nature’s extremes. Summers here can climb to a blistering 50 °C — so unforgiving that the state enforces a ban on outdoor work between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The Bay of Bengal regularly brews cyclones — Fani in 2019, Yaas in 2021, and Dana in 2024 — which flatten power lines and networks within hours. 

In the remote forest interiors, where even mobile signals vanish, electricity workers have no choice but to trek for kilometres, balancing poles and equipment on their backs to reach broken lines.

When Cyclone Dana struck in 2024, the damage was catastrophic. Entire stretches of the power network disappeared overnight. “Our power network was destroyed within hours,” recalls Gajanan Kale, Chief of Odisha Distribution Business at Tata Power. “But our teams, the state government, disaster management, even villagers with tractors — everyone came together. That’s why hospitals and households had power back sooner than people believed possible.”

This hard-won readiness is relatively new. Before 2020, Odisha’s grid was among India’s weakest: AT&C losses exceeded 30%, meters and transformers were unreliable, and faith in the system — whether from villagers or industry — was low.

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state made a bold, risky choice: it entered a public–private partnership with Tata Power, India’s most trusted power utility with a century of experience and a track record of transforming power distribution in Delhi and Mumbai. The aim was simple but daunting — rebuild trust and reliability. 

A strategic and bold step 

For villagers and engineers alike, trust was only the first step. Delivering reliable power across one of India’s toughest terrains called for a bold structural shift. At that moment, amid the pandemic, Odisha handed over four distribution companies — TPCODL, TPNODL, TPWODL, TPSODL — while the nation struggled to keep its lights on. “We took over the first discom in June 2020, and then the others followed,” Kale remembers. “Yes, COVID made the environment uncertain and complex, but transformation never happens in comfort zones.”

Tata Power took a 51% stake; the state retained 49%. What they inherited was immense: a responsibility to serve five crore people across a 1,50,000 sq km expanse, prone to catastrophic cyclones, punishing heat, and violent storms (kalbaisakhis).

“We had to start from scratch in many places,” he recalls. “Old records were outdated, and consumers had lost trust. The first task was to rebuild confidence, so we focused on accurate bills, timely response, and reliable supply.”

Over Rs 5,900 crore has since gone into substations, feeders, and cabling. Smart meters replaced manual readings. In Bhubaneswar, India’s first Power Distribution Technology Centre now tracks the grid in real time, enabling faster restoration. “Earlier, complaints had no response,” Das explains. “Now even a missed call gets a reply.”

Customer care centres and 24×7 helplines gave people a voice. Local vendors were trained and roped in, ensuring that even during cyclones, poles and transformers could be supplied. Nearly Rs 16,000 crore worth of contracts — mostly with local MSMEs — have stayed within the state.

As Kale puts it, “If we can make this model work in rural Odisha, then the opportunities are endless across India.” Five years on, the state’s discoms rank among India’s best, with A+ ratings marking a turnaround born in crisis.

The human grid behind the wires

Behind the technology and the crores invested, it is really people who have carried Odisha’s power story forward. Every day, more than 15,000 engineers, linemen, and staff keep the network alive — and almost 90% of them are locals who know the land, the weather, and the people they serve. 

This underscores that the transformation is fundamentally driven by the people. By combining deep domain expertise with local network knowledge and a shared commitment to excellence, everyone worked together— and that made this change possible.

For staff, the work tests endurance. Das recalls wading through waist-deep water, carrying rolls of wires because vehicles couldn’t pass. “I remember Parsali village in Rayagada. For decades, there was no electricity, and finally, we brought light there. The happiness on their faces was unforgettable.” 

Stories like Parsali are not exceptions — they capture the spirit that defines Odisha’s power journey. That same resilience shows up whenever cyclones strike. During Dana, for instance, teams worked round-the-clock, even using boats to reach low-lying villages. Locals hauled poles or cleared roads. 

Women employees worked shoulder to shoulder to shape the change. In Bhubaneswar, an all-women team runs the smart meter testing lab. “All the meters going into homes or industries are tested by women,” Kale notes. “They bring discipline, innovation, and new energy to this work.” 

In rural districts, company-supported self-help group (SHG) members, such as Niroj Nalini Mishra and Manjulata Sahu, bridge the gap between the company and consumers. Nalini recalls, “I connected people to customer care, approached the section head, and within an hour, the problem was fixed. People were satisfied and paid their bills.” 

For Manjulata, the difference shows in her own confidence. “While working on company-backed community outreach programmes, I have gained confidence in speaking with people. I have learnt to solve customers’ problems with patience and effective communication.”

Meanwhile, even the local youth are taking on new opportunities. ITI graduates and engineering students train in customer care, command centres, and field operations — building a local, future-ready workforce through the ‘Campus Connect’ programme.

These heroes form the human grid behind the wires — building trust, resilience, and a model for a skilled India.

Confidence, carried on a current

Five years after the takeover, Odisha’s sector looks transformed. AT&C losses have halved — from over 30% to nearly 16%, better than the national average. Outages that once lasted days after a cyclone now end within hours.

For farmers like Rabi Pradhan in Bargarh, steady electricity fuels investment. “Earlier, we were always waiting near the borewell, unsure if water would come. Crops failed when wires went down,” he recalls. “Now, we irrigate as per the crop’s needs. Our Kharif harvests are sound, and we’ve recovered the cost of our lift irrigation points.”

Industries, too, once wary, are returning. A cold-storage unit owner from Bhubaneswar recalls losing over Rs 2 lakh of stock during a 14-hour outage in 2019. “Back then, it felt unsustainable. Today, outages are rare and short. We’ve expanded, hired more staff, and even installed automated packaging equipment that doubles output.” 

His story mirrors a larger shift. Reliable power has restored confidence, turning western Odisha into an industrial hub where consumption has nearly doubled over four to five years.

For women like Nalini, the gains are personal. “Thanks to the billing and collection work assigned to me by the discoms, I can pay for my children’s education and their food,” she says. Her kids, she adds, are happy she can fulfil their wishes. 

Festivals share the impact as well: in 2025, the Jagannath Rath Yatra saw uninterrupted supply for lakhs of devotees. Ahead of every cyclone, the four discoms mobilise a 15,000-strong workforce, stockpile poles and spares, and pool resources across regions — ensuring restoration begins within hours, not days.

In Simlipal’s tribal belt, 18 microgrids now light 70 villages that never had dependable power. As Kale says, “It is not just about improved figures. It is about the dignity and confidence electricity has given to millions of households.”

Why change took sweat and trust

Odisha’s power story took persistence. Each cyclone tested the system, forcing engineers to rebuild. 

The hurdles didn’t end with storms. Legacy inefficiencies had left employees demotivated and communities distrustful. “We had to resolve these issues with the support of unions and employees,” Kale explains. “Once people saw fairness return, their motivation doubled.”

For Das, perseverance became a habit. “Earlier, I lacked commitment because there was no manpower or material. I would form village committees, but I couldn’t deliver,” he says. “Now, if I commit, it happens.” 

Lighting a path for India

Five years on, the results speak. States from Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh study Odisha as a blueprint. As Kale says, “Empower your local teams, use technology as the backbone, and manage change with empathy. Odisha shows that even the toughest terrains can be transformed if people, leadership, and technology work together.”

In villages once dark at sunset, children now study under steady light. Farmers irrigate without anxiety. Small businesses run smoothly, factories grow, and rural households charge phones, run fans, and light kitchens without worry. 

This journey is also part of the state’s vision of ‘Viksit Odisha, Viksit Bharat’, a reminder that when committed organisations and local communities work together, they can light up lives.

This is more than Odisha’s story. It is proof that when resilience meets trust and local hands take the lead, even the harshest storms cannot hold back progress. A movement that has lit up an entire state — and shown the rest of India what’s possible, with the public-private partnership model emerging as a preferred partner in progress.

Edited by Leila Badyari