After remaining in darkness on Saturday night and Sunday, western Odisha has once again restored to power, state-run power trader Gridco Ltd has confirmed.

Several districts of the state, including Bargarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Sonepur, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda had plunged into darkness, after a massive thunder squall affected the grid and power lines on the past Saturday night.

According to Gridco, gusty north-westerly storm damaged several 11kv and 33kv power lines as well as badly affected two 210MW units of Ib thermal power station at Banaharpali, the Burla hydropower station and the 600MW unit of Sterlite Energy.

The Budipadadar grid, which is situated near Jharsuguda, had collapsed altogether, forcing Sterlite Energy of Vedanta, Odisha Hydropower Corp's powerhouse in Burla and Odisha Power Generation Corp's Jharsuguda-based Banaharpali units to stop power generation.

The massive blackout continued on Sunday as engineers and line men were busy in repair and restoration works.

On Sunday, Gridco commercial director P K Pradhan, said, "Vedanta units started operation in the afternoon only. We have also restored power transmission connections in major areas. The rest of the areas can have power supply by tonight."

The gale was accompanied by thundershower, which dragged temperature down in the affected districts, which in turn slashed demand for power by around 1,000MW.

But, the massive blackout forced factories in the affected areas to remain closed for more than a day, affecting nearly Rs 50cr business.