IT wing of KSEB Limited

The IT Wing headed by the Chief Engineer (IT) is leading the mission of transforming KSEB in to a fully automated Power Utility for becoming one of the model Utilities in India. Completing the process of building up a solid IT infrastructure which includes Data Centre, DR Centre, Wide Area Network connecting all offices etc. along with necessary software Applications for the core functional areas of the Utility is the primary objective. As part of the above, the following activities are being carried out at various offices of the IT Wing.

• Software development, testing, implementation and maintenance related to the automation of various functional areas.
• Setting up and maintaining IT infrastructure including Enterprise class Servers, Storage, Backup Units, LAN/WAN, Network Security devices etc.
• Assessing hardware requirements, providing technical specifications and conducting technical evaluations for procurement for various offices
• Providing complete technical support for running and upkeeping of IT Systems for around 1200 field offices which contains nearly 15000 desktops and other peripherals
• Arranging IT based training for KSEB employees.
• Implementation of various IT and SCADA Projects under RAPDRP scheme.

Organizational structure

The Chief Engineer (IT) is assisted by the Deputy Chief Engineer (IT) for managing various administrative and technical tasks. The following offices headed by Executive Engineers are functioning under IT wing in order to carry out various computerization activities

• IT-Computerisation Unit, Thiruvananthapuram
• Regional IT Unit, Thiruvananthapuram
• Regional IT Unit, Kochi
• Regional IT Unit, Kozhikode
  
  

Major Projects implemented

The primary importance in the computerization activities is given to the automation of core functional areas of the Organisation. Due to this, the IT Wing has attained considerable achievements in the automation of billing of LT & HT/EHT consumers, Corporate Accounting, Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management etc. as follows

LT Billing Application Software- ORUMA

The LT billing software 'Oruma' developed on open source technologies by the IT Unit is running successfully in various Electrical Sections of KSEB. This software was running successfully for billing of more than 1.2 Crores of consumers. As part of implementing online payment facility and anywhere payment facility to consumers, Electrical Sections are being migrated to the new centralised billing software ORUMANET.

Centralised LT Billing Application software- ORUMANET
The major redesigning and modification of ORUMA software has been completed in the IT Unit and the new Application software ORUMANET is running in centralized architecture in the Data Centre environment. After carrying out the pilot implementation, 218 Electrical Sections have been migrated to the above Application. This software provides the following facilities to the consumers

Online payment facility and Anywhere payment facility
Web based services for consumers like view of bills, payment history, consumption details, meter reading history etc.

TOD billing for high value LT consumers

The remaining Electrical Sections which are using Oruma software for billing will also be migrated to Orumanet as and when network connectivity is extended to those Sections. Online customer services like New Consumer Registration, Tariff change, Ownership change, Connected load change etc will also be provided to the consumers of KSEB through the above Application.

Online Portal for LT Consumers- 'ORUMA WEB'

The Orumaweb software facilitates online payment of Electricity bills of LT consumers under the Electrical Sections running Oruma billing Application. This portal also provides centralised collection of payments from Friends and Akshaya Centres. A software module running in the above portal facilitates the consolidation and payment of Electricity bills of Government Departments which are belongs to vaious Electrical Sections.

Human Resource Management System - 'HRIS'

The HRIS package which includes Payroll, PF and Employee Information System modules is rolled for all Account Rendering Units (ARU) and is running successfully from 2010 onwards. Provisions for e-Transfer, generating LPC, Earned leave surrender bill, Bonus/Festival Allowance Bill, Festival Advance Bill etc. were incorporated recently in the package. Further to the above, additions like issue of Credit Statements have been made to the GPF module. A new software module for Pension sanction and disbursement has been added to the package and is under pilot testing at Electrical Division, Neyyattinkara. In addition to the above, another module is under development for issue of vigilance clearance to the employees.

HT/EHT Billing System

The HT/EHT billing software with web based consumer services is functioning successfully from 2011. This software facilitates the HT/EHT consumers for online payment of Electricity bills, view of bills, payment history, consumption details, meter reading history etc. Electrical Sections can directly enter the meter reading of HT/EHT consumers through this software and it facilitates to view the bills, meter readings, consumption variations etc. from field offices. The functionality of sending bill copy by e-mail and bill details as SMS to the consumers was also implemented in the software.

ARU Accounting System- SARAS

The centralized corporate accounting software, SARAS, developed and maintained by the Regional IT Unit, Kozhikode is running from the Central Server and all account rendering units (ARUs) are connected to the above Server for accounting purpose. A new module has been added in SARAS for accounting the purchase of Power. The HRIS package has been integrated with SARAS for establishment bill preparation. Integration of SARAS with the LT billing application software ORUMA regarding the preparation of revenue accounts is progressing.

Supply Chain Management System

The Supply Chain Management software for automating the store inventory management and procurement process is implemented and maintained by the Regional IT Unit, Kochi. This software is running successfully in the Distribution wing of KSEB from 2010 onwards. The Application was modified to simplify work creation, material allocation store pass creation, mechanical facility etc. A new reporting facility for month wise material requirement for planned works and report on office wise material availability were also added in the software. New features like PSC pole receipt workflow, allocation of local purchase items to Sections, work to work transfer of materials etc. were also incorporated. Steps are being taken to implement the software in the Transmission Wing of KSEB.

Restructured Accelerated Power Development Reforms Program (RAPDRP)

The R-APDRP program is sponsored by Government of India and funded through Power Finance Corporation (PFC). Part-A of the program is for building up IT infrastructure like Data Cente, Wide Area Network etc. for Power Utilities. 43 towns in Kerala are included in the project. The progress achieved in the implementation of the above project in KSEB is summarised as follows:

Data Cente – A full fledged Data Centre in 3200 Sq.feet area as per tier-III standards has been setup in Vydyuthibhavanam, Trivandrum for hosting the software Applications of KSEB. The complete IT infrastructure including Servers, Storage, Networking and Security systems is accommodated in 38 racks in the Server Farm. The Data Centre has future scalability for hosting 10 more racks.

Wide Area Network- As part of establishment of Wide Area Network, 218 Electrical Sections were connected to the Data Centre through MPLS VPN network. Steps are being taken to connect the remaining Electrical Sections along with Electrical Circles and Divisions to the Data Centre. The MPLS network has end to end redundancy with the primary and secondary Service Providers.

Centralized Customer Care Services (CCC)- A Call Centre cum Customer Care Centre has been setup in Vydyuthibhvanam, Trivandrum and started functioning at the end of 2013-14. Around 50 Call Centre executives can work in the above facility to attend complaints/queries from the consumers under various Electrical Sections all over Kerala. 64 Electrical Sections have been migrated to CCC for reporting/rectification of complaints. A 4 digit phone number with 32 lines has been provided to the public for reporting of calls. Steps are being taken to add more Sections to the CCC. The Center will also provide the facility for customer walk-in in order to rectify the complaints related to bills, tariff, new connection etc.

Web Self Services- This online portal provides facilities like e-Payment, bill view, consumption pattern, meter reading history etc. 186 Electrical Sections are attached to the above website for providing consumer services. More Sections will be added to the above Portal when Orumanet deployment is completed in those Sections.

Geographical Information System, Meter Data Management System, Energy Audit, Network Analysis- After completing the software development and testing the above Applications have been rolled out in 25 Electrical Sections.

Asset Management, Maintenance Management, Project Management System and Management Information System- The software development for these Applications is completed and testing is in progress.

Handheld devices for Meter reading- PDA has been implemented in 21 Electrical Sections for meter reading and issue of bills for LT consumers
Disaster Recovery Centre- A Disaster Recovery Centre is being setup at InfoPark, Cherthala in order to provide redundancy for the Data Centre IT infrastructure.

SCADA/DMS Project under RAPDRP

As part of implementation of Part-A of RAPDRP, SCADA/Distribution Management System will be implemented in the urban areas which are towns and cities with population of more than 4,00,000 and annual input energy of 350MUs. In KSEB, the SCADA/DMS project for automation of distribution systems up to 33KV is being implemented in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode towns. As part the above, field survey of primary substations in the above three towns has been completed. Ring Main Unit (RMU) field survey was initiated in the three towns. Procurement of PSS equipments was started for Thiruvananthapuram town. The work of setting up the physical infrastructure for the SCADA Control Centres in the above three towns is nearing completion.

E-Payment facility for Electricity Bills

KSEB introduced online payment facility for Electricity bills for its consumers from June 2011. This facility was initially made available for HT/EHT consumers through the web portal ht.kseb.in. This was extended to all LT consumers from April 2013 through the websites pg.kseb.in & wss.kseb.in. Anyone having a valid Internet banking account or a valid Visa/Master/Maestro Credit Card or Debit Card can pay an Electricity bill though Internet by incurring a minimum service charge. KSEB has also established direct integration with some of the banks to offer better online payment facilities to the consumers of the bank. At present, the account holders of the South Indian Bank, Canara Bank and Federal Bank can pay their bills online through this facility without incurring any service charges.

Video Conferencing System

A comprehensive Video Conferencing facility has been commissioned in KSEB connecting three location in the south, central and north regions viz. Vydyuthibhavanam, Trivandrum, 220KV Substation, Brahmapuram and 220KV Substation, Vadakara. Using this facility, video conferences can be conducted with full HD video resolution and excellent audio quality. Connectivity among the three locations has been established through KSEB’s OFC cable laid through the 220KV transmission towers which ensures 4Mbps dedicated and reliable connectivity. The participants at the three sites can also demonstrate Powerpoint presentations during video conference sessions. The above facility will be extended to all district headquarters in future.

e-Office

It has been decided to implement the concept of paperless office for all correspondences in the offices of KSEB. As part of the above, a new software module has been developed by the Regional IT Unit, Kozhikode and integrated with the SARAS package. Pilot testing was succesfully completed at office of the Chief Engineer (Transmission North). After completing the pilot implementation, the software was rolled out in 28 offices of KSEB as on 15-06-2016.

KSEB WAN

Presently KSEB offices are connected to the Data Centre and DR Centre through an MPLS VPN network by leasing the bandwidth from primary and secondary Service Providers. In order to have own network infrastructure facility for KSEB, it is proposed to setup a Wide Area Network by using NOFN (National Optical Fiber Network) as network backbone. The last mile connectivity will be provided by laying OFC cable through the LT poles of KSEB. The proposed network will be capable of providing connectivity to Government/PSU offices as well as KSEB offices in the area. As a pilot project for the above, it has been decided to establish an OFC network at Anad Grama Panchayath for providing network connectivity with a total bandwidth of 100Mbps. It is expected that the pilot project will be completed by the end of May 2015.