Odisha’s young engineers power India’s first statewide Power Distribution Tech Centre

By Payal Banerjee

Bhubaneswar, July 22: In a landmark stride towards digital energy governance, Odisha has launched India’s first statewide Power Distribution Technology Centre (PDTC), entirely operated by homegrown engineers—many of them women—marking a significant milestone in the state’s transformation into a hub of energy expertise.

Located in Bhubaneswar, the PDTC functions as a high-tech digital nerve centre for Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL), enabling 24×7 live monitoring and intelligent control of 250 SCADA-integrated substations across Central Odisha. Uniquely, it also doubles as the backup control centre for 526 substations managed by the other three Tata Power-led Odisha discoms—TPWODL, TPSODL, and TPNODL—making it the only integrated control centre of its kind in India’s power distribution sector.

What truly sets the PDTC apart is its workforce. The centre is manned by over 50 engineers from districts like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Balasore, and Berhampur—graduates of local engineering colleges—who work in three rotational shifts to ensure uninterrupted power to millions. The team represents the “Skilled in Odisha” vision in action, where indigenous talent drives critical infrastructure.

Among the key professionals is Pravati Mishra, executive engineer and a CV Raman Engineering College graduate. “Contributing to the PDTC is a proud milestone. We’re making Odisha’s grid safer, smarter, and more responsive every day,” she said. Another vital team member, Pragnya Sarada Das, heads the reliability function at TPCODL. An alumna of Veer Surendra Sai University, Burla, she joined Tata Power as a GET and has been part of the transformation since its inception. “PDTC reflects the future of power distribution—resilient, automated, and deeply rooted in local capability,” she noted.

The PDTC leverages cutting-edge systems—SCADA, ADMS, GIS, and weather-integrated analytics—to predict peak demand (over 6,000 MW), manage outages, and ensure seamless grid operations statewide. It has become the state’s control tower for rapid fault detection, automated switching, and real-time supply restoration.

Tata Power’s four Odisha Discoms serve a population of nearly 4.6 crore across urban and rural regions in partnership with the state government. The PDTC stands as a powerful symbol of this collaborative, tech-driven transformation—where world-class infrastructure is steered by Odisha’s own talent, lighting the way for India’s energy future.

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Photograph: Young engineers at Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Ltd’s Power Distribution Technology Centre (PDTC), Bhubaneswar, Odisha.