Reliance's GIS department works around the clock to ensure that users have access to the most current data to support their business processes.

Following extensive competitive technical evaluations, Reliance Energy Limited (REL) has chosen Esri and Esri Business Partner Miner & Miner to provide its GIS platform and will use Esri's ArcGIS desktop clients (ArcEditor and ArcView), ArcGIS Schematics, ArcSDE, and ArcIMS. REL is also implementing the ArcFM Solution product suite consisting of ArcFM Viewer, ArcFM Editor, ArcFM Designer, Conduit Manager, and Responder from Miner & Miner for its outage management system.

Esri's ArcIMS Internet technology will play a pivotal role at REL in disseminating information stored in the utility's geographic database.

REL is India's leading integrated power utility company in the private sector, serving 25 million customers over 124,300 square kilometers. Along with its affiliates it has a significant presence in generation, transmission, and distribution providing more than 16 billion units of power a year to Maharashtra, Delhi, Orissa, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

The company has a pioneering history of leadership and innovation spanning 75 years in Mumbai providing dependable electricity at competitive prices to its consumers. The company has 941 MW of power generation capacity at plants located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa.

REL conducted an extensive benchmark prior to selecting Esri and Miner & Miner. The company is implementing sophisticated applications and upgrading its operations through the use of GIS to leverage spatial information and technology across REL. After conducting a comprehensive evaluation of GIS software, it decided to implement a GIS based on the robust set of software and open information technology (IT) standards capable of integration with other enterprise systems.

A fundamental component of the system at REL is spatial information. Whether it is customer-, asset-, environment-, or competitor-related data, geography will become the integration framework for all of its databases. Various business units at REL will drive the GIS requirements. For example, the asset management departments will utilize the GIS infrastructure and data to support various spatial business needs, including design, network analysis, and outage management. REL expects ArcGIS to greatly expedite both the implementation of enterprisewide projects and the integration with SAP, CIS, SCADA, and other IT systems.

Mr. A. Ramanathan, business head, Reliance Digital World (P) Ltd., a newly formed company of the Reliance Group for implementing GIS and GIS-based solutions for the Reliance Group of companies and other clients, comments on the future of GIS in the electrical utility industry. "A well-planned GIS in the utility industry helps integrate diverse IT systems, such as SCADA, CIS and IVR, SAP, and Outage Management, resulting in an efficient distribution to successfully deliver quality service at an affordable price and improve customer satisfaction."

NIIT-GIS Ltd. (Esri India) will be working with REL to ensure that the company is able to successfully leverage its geographic data and GIS knowledge across the organization. Esri India will play an important role by providing local support in the form of training and implementation services for REL.

For more information, contact Dave Byers, Esri (tel.: 909-793-2853, ext. 1-1561; e-mail: dbyers@esri.com).