– This paper presents a new method for identifying the best switching option for the reconfiguration of Radial Distribution Systems (RDS). Feeder reconfiguration is the technique to alter the topological structure of the distribution feeder by changing the open/close status of sectionalizing and tie switches. The reconfiguration involves in selection of the set of sectionalizing switches to be opened and tie switch to be closed such that the resulting RDS has the desirable performance. Amongst the several criteria considered for optimal network configuration, loss minimization criterion is very widely used. In this project a novel method is presented which utilizes feeder reconfiguration as a planning and real time control tool in order to restructure the primary feeders for the loss minimization. The mathematical formulation of the proposed method is given; the solution procedure is illustrated with an example. Owing to the discrete nature of the solution space, a neural network approach for optimal reconfiguration of distribution network is proposed.