MUMBAI, INDIA: Tata Consultancy Services, India's top software firm, has been selected as the lowest bidder for a 2.93 billion rupee ($63 million) project in the state of Madhya Pradesh, an official with the state power utility said on Thursday.

"For the IT implementation work, Tata Consultancy Services has been selected as the L-1 (lowest bidder)," S.A.Ansari, Chief Engineer (IT) of the M.P. Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company Ltd, told Reuters over telephone from the city of Bhopal.

The project will be formally awarded after approval from the board of directors of the state's distribution utilities, and will be completed in 18 months, he said.

A spokesman for TCS confirmed the company had bid for a project in the state, but declined to give further details.

The project is part of a central government-funded power reforms program to use information technology to cap electricity distribution losses in the country.