"Our endeavour to develop the power sector in the last 50 years has been shattered in one month," state energy minister Niranjan Patnaik told The Financial Express. He put the total loss at Rs 600 crore. The cyclone of October 17 and the super cyclone of October 29 have completely destroyed the distribution network in 13 districts of Orissa, south Orissa and parts of north Orissa. Patnaik said the damages caused by the October 29 cyclone have been estimated at Rs 400 crore.

Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Paradip and Jagatsinghpur went without electricity for the eighth day on Friday. "We are hopeful of resuming power supply in Bhubaneswar city by Monday," Patnaik said. Stating that all essential service installations like the water supply house, hospitals and public institutions have been supplied power in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, he said the 1.33 lakh consumers in the two cities will get power within three to four days.

Meanwhile, to restore the power supply in the cyclone-affected areas, the government has engaged 1,000 additional workers from Sambalpur, Bolangir, Sundergarh and Dhenkanal. A team of engineers and workers from the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board has also arrived to help restore electrical installations.

Patnaik said the Orissa government has decided to restore the power supply without depending on its partners. AES Corporation has taken over the management control of Cesco under which comes most of the worst-affected districts. BSES Ltd has taken over the management of Southco and Northco under which comes the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Balasore.