Torrent Power (TEL) was incorporated on Apr. 29, 2004 as Torrent Power Trading. The name of the company was changed to Torrent Power on Jan. 25, 2006. Consequent to the conversion of the company into a public sector company on Feb. 8, 2006, the company came to be called as TEL. It came into existence after the merger of Torrent Power AEC, Torrent Power SEC and Torrent Power Generation. Gujarat-based TEL is a part of Rs. 45 billion Torrent Group and is engaged in generation, transmission and distribution of power. Torrent?s venture into power sector began with the acquisitions of utilities, the Surat Electricity Company and the Ahmedabad Electricity Company. Torrent turned them into first rate power utilities in terms of operational efficiencies and reliability of power supply. Torrent has a generation capacity of 1600 MW and distributes over 7 billion units of power annually to Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat. The company also bagged the Gold Shield for two consecutive years, 2004-05 and 2005-06, for outstanding performance in power distribution by the Government of India. Distribution franchise business is one area which Torrent Power has been aggressively pursuing as part of its current expansion plans.