Power Sector thread

Sitting on a huge cash surplus of over Rs 9,000 crore, state-owned power equipment make BHEL is keen to invest in a joint venture by picking up equity in state power projects, a move that would generate revenues and also additional business for the PSU.

"...We are putting this money in joint ventures offering state generation companies equity in their power plants. It is a better way to invest money and generate business for the company," BHEL CMD BP Rao said here today.

The company has already entered into four such joint ventures with states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he said, adding that BHEL would be investing about Rs 3,000 crore in these JVs over a period of four years depending upon the schedule of projects.
These power plants could be coal-based or gas-based and as they get the linkage to the raw material the projects would take off.

By doing so, BHEL would pick up to 25% equity and this would ensure business for equipments. The state generation firms would contribute the remaining 75% equity.

BHEL would also keep it optional to exit from the joint venture after 5-6 years of commissioning of the projects by roping in a third partner, Rao said, adding that this would be an option as the PSU may also decide to continue with the project.

"Ultimately we would like to exit the company as we don't want to compete with our customers," he added.

Asked whether BHEL was also keen on overseas acquisitions, he said, "We are looking at opportunities that can give us new market access, opportunities that can give us new technologies, strategic inputs like raw material....These are the three dimensions we are looking at."

BHEL has appointed a team, which would evaluate the opportunities available for the company abroad and would advice on the same. It comprises consultants such as Kotak Mahindra, Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young.

The company is exploring every possible market in order to get best returns on its investment.

"It could be South Africa, US, Southeast Asia etc....We have appointed a team for that, Kotak Mahindra, Merrill Lynch, E&Y are there, we are actively looking at opportunities," he said.

Of the total Rs 9,000 crore, BHEL has committed Rs 3,000 crore for picking equity in state genco projects over the next four years.

BHEL currently has a capacity to supply equipments for generating 15,000 MW electricity annually and is in process to enhance it to 20,000 MW by March next year.

Click to expand...

HYDERABAD, JUNE 16:
Power major NTPC Ltd., on Thursday said that it is set to add 1500 mw more during the current fiscal, even as it is gearing up to take up a mega project at Kudgi in Karnataka. The corporation now has an installed capacity of 4,450 mw in the South at Ramagundam, Simhadri, Kayamkulam in addition to 2000 mw it receives from the Talcher plant located in Orissa. With the fresh capacity addition, the installed capacity in is poised to go up to 6,000 mw by March next.

The fresh capacity addition will come through second unit of 500 mw at Simhadari, which will make it a superthermal power plant with capacity of 2000 mw, and two units of 500 mw at Vallur in Tamil Nadu, which is being implemented through a joint venture with TN Electricity Board.

Mr.Jayadeb Nanda, who has recently assumed office as Regional Executive Director of NTPC, (South), told Business Line that the Simhadri unit will be ready for commissioning by January 2012 and two units of 500 mw capacity each at Vallur in Tamil Nadu, where a 1500 mw thermal plant is coming up, will also be ready for synchronisation with the grid by March 2012.

“We have signed up power purchase agreements with Southern States for the 4,000 mw thermal plant at Kudgi in Karanatka and are expecting the land allotment of 1900 acres by next quarter this year. In the phase one we will take up 3x800 mw power plant. This will be first thermal plant in South of NTPC under the supercritical technology. Work on other aspects, including suppliers is being finalised,” he said.

“The Kudgi plant will be taken up on a fast track. Various aspects for implementation of the project are now being addressed. Fuel linkage for the project will also be through soon,” he explained.

Mr. Nanda said “NTPC has also signed up with Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for a 4,000 mw mega power project near Nakapalli of Visakhapatnam district of the State. However, this will be taken up in the next plan period after receiving all necessary clearances.”

“NTPC is keen to take up expansion in the south as we believe there is increasing demand in the region. As a part of the expansion projects, we are also looking at taking up another two units of 500 mw each at Ramagundam thermal project, which has consistently delivered very high plant load factors. Feasibility studies are now underway for expansion,” he said.

Click to expand...

NTPC has formed a joint venture company, National Power Exchange Ltd (NPEX), to set up a power exchange. It will be a third exchange after Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL) and India Energy Exchange and is expected to be operational within a year, officials said.

The joint venture with NHPC, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has already received in-principle approval from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to begin. NTPC officials said the implementation time may, however, vary depending on terms of CERC approval and other factors.

The exchange will have to compete in a market where there are already two players and the total power purchase from the exchanges account for four per cent of the total consumption.

“The power trading market has a strong growth potential. NPEX is backed by rich domain knowledge of the power sector and envisions a strong role in market development and optimal utilisation of generation and transmission resources,” NTPC officials said.

Also, the two players have launched weekly products for trading on a week-ahead basis on the exchange platform. The exchanges have proven to be very important market mechanisms with the exchange prices having become important benchmarks for the entire power trading market, said one of the exchange official.

The power price since then has come down from Rs 16-20 per unit to Rs 2.5/3 per unit, now. The long-term objective of exchanges is to drive the Indian power sector towards true competition-based pricing, as against scarcity-based pricing

Click to expand...

In a renewed attempt to complete the ill-fated Barh and Sipat thermal power projects, state-owned NTPC Ltd has extracted firm completion deadlines from Russia’s Technoprom Exports (TPE) and Power Machines, the vendors supplying equipment for the projects.

“These firm deadlines were agreed upon after a top team from NTPC visited Russia last month,” said a senior company executive, who did not want to be identified.

Both the projects have been delayed by around three years, hampering the plans of India’s largest power generation utility to expand capacity by 3,960 megawatts (MW)—sufficient to meet the average demand of a city such as Delhi.

The Sipat project located in Chhattisgarh has a total planned capacity of 2,980MW. Of this, while the second stage of the project having a capacity of 1,000MW is operational, the first-stage 1,980MW capacity has been delayed due to Power Machines seeking more time to deliver the equipment and an upward revision in price, citing rising input costs.

Power Machines was also not releasing payments on time to its sub-vendors, leading to delays. The original order, for Rs.1,150 crore, was placed with a consortium headed by Power Machines on 6 February 2004.

The Barh project located in Bihar has a total planned capacity of 3,300MW. Of this, the second stage of the project with a capacity of 1,320MW is being constructed by state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and is expected to be fully operational by September 2014.

However, the first phase of 1,980MW has been embroiled in a controversy after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concluded that TPE breached its contract to supply boilers for the three units of 660MW each for Rs.2,066 crore.

The government, in the interests of India’s relationship with Russia, brokered a compromise between NTPC and TPE, with the cabinet committee on infrastructure allowing NTPC to go ahead with its deal with TPE in May 2010.

“According to the earlier schedule, while Sipat has been delayed by 37 months, Barh has been delayed by 36 months. We had agreed to these schedules around two years back. While the TPE issue was a strategic one, funding was a problem with Power Machines,” said another NTPC executive who also requested anonymity. The executive was referring to the Russian government’s efforts to lobby for the deal with TPE even as India seeks to strengthen its commercial and defence relations with its long-term ally.

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had helped hammer out a deal with India to resolve the five-year-old dispute over the TPE contract.

A timely completion of these projects will be a boost for NTPC, which plans to increase its installed capacity from 34,194MW now to 75,000MW by 2017 and 128,000MW by 2032.

“According to the original schedule, the total 1,980MW capacity at Sipat was to be fully commissioned by September 2008, with the similar capacity at Barh slated to be operational by November 2010,” said the second NTPC executive cited above.

According to the new deadlines, while Barh will be fully commissioned by August 2014, the three units at Sipat will be operational by October this year.

A TPE representative in India didn’t comment and asked Mint to contact the company’s office in Russia. While questions emailed to TPE bounced back, those posted on the company’s website remained unanswered at the time of filing the story. Queries emailed to Power Machines also remained unanswered at the time of filing the story.

The genesis of the TPE controversy dates back to February 2005, when the Russian firm won a contract to supply boilers to NTPC’s 1,980MW Barh project in Bihar. But work on the project stalled soon, with TPE demanding more money for the equipment, citing higher steel prices. The Russian firm wanted extension and removal of the 20% cap on price escalation.

“The cap has been removed with a formula based on indices in both countries agreed upon on making further payments to TPE,” said the first NTPC executive.

The dispute had become a test of India’s ability to balance commercial and diplomatic interests, while ensuring that ties with Russia weren’t jeopardized.

Click to expand...

The Bharat Forge-NTPC combine will by July sign technology transfer agreements or joint ventures with overseas companies for manufacturing pumps and valves and large castings for power plants, said Sunil Chaturvedi, executive director, Bharat Forge.
He did not reveal the names of the prospective partners as discussions are still on.

These new ventures will by under the JV between Bharat Forge and NTPC, formed in 2008 to manufacture components for power plants.

“We are in different stages of dialogues with foreign companies for technology transfer or a joint venture to manufacture pumps and valves and large castings for turbines. We should conclude that by the middle of next month,” Chaturvedi told DNA Money on Saturday.

He added that the new ventures will not lead to dilution of equity of either Bharat Forge or NTPC in the main JV, in which the former holds 51% and the latter the rest.

“If it’s going to be a JV instead of a technology transfer agreement, we would like to hold a majority,” Chaturvedi noted.

Other than pumps and valves and castings, the Bharat Forge-NTPC JV plans to make pipes and also have complete piping solutions including the engineering of pipes.

“Currently, for piping solutions one has to deal with half a dozen companies but we want to provide the entire range of services,” he said.

The JV has already identified 100 acres at Solapur to make all products but pumps and valves, for which a plant could come up nearby.

All the facilities are expected to be commissioned in four years and the total investment will be Rs900-1000 crore, according to Chaturvedi. “But Bharat Forge’s equity contribution will only be Rs50-60 crore since there is NTPC and there could be other JVs (under Bharat Forge-NTPC),” he added.

Bharat Forge also has two other JVs with French major Alstom SA, one to make turbine generators and the other to make components like condensers and heaters for turbines. The turbine JV late last year bagged an order to supply five turbines of 660 mw to NTPC.

A May 24 report by IDFC Securities said that though these businesses will generate revenues only after 2012-13, there is merit in the company’s approach. “Through its various JVs and entry into EPC business, Bharat Forge is making its presence felt across the power business value chain,” Bhushan Gajaria wrote in the report.

Bharat Forge’s non-auto business, which comprises largely of power equipment & components and transportation, including railways, aviation and marine products, grew 90% last fiscal to contribute 37% to the company’s standalone topline of Rs2,950 crore. In 2009-10, it was 30%.

Click to expand...

NTPC commissions super critical 660 MW unit at Sipat
Press Trust of India / New Delhi June 28, 2011, 14:18 IST
State-run power major NTPC today said it has started operations of the first super critical 660 MW unit at Sipat plant in Chattisgarh.
The plant, located in Bilaspur, has an installed capacity of 2,980 MW.
With the commissioning of 660 MW, NTPC's installed capacity has increased to 34,854 MW, while the total operational capacity at Sipat plant is now 1,660 MW.
The Sipat project has three units of 660 MW in stage I and 2 units of 500 MW in stage II, which are already operational.
"The project shall have an installed capacity of 2,980 MW on completion of both the stages. The beneficiaries of the project are Western Region states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli," NTPC said in a statement.

NTPC has an operational capacity of over 8,000 MW in Western Region and work is progressing for over 4,000 MW capacity at Mouda, Vindhyachal, Sipat and Solapur.

According to the statement, the company is focused on introduction of high efficiency supercritical and ultra super-critical coal-based power plants.

The entity has floated tenders for 9 units each of 660 MW and 800 MW for its upcoming projects in 12th plan.

"These supercritical units will achieve much higher generation efficiency and are critical components of NTPC's low carbon growth strategy," it added.
link http://businessstandard.com/india/news/ntpc-commissions-super-critical-660-mw-unit-at-sipat/139616/on

NEW DELHI: State-run NTPC would invest around Rs 6,600 crore for setting up a coal-based power project at Kanpur, on which the work is expected to start from January 2012.

The proposed 1,320 MW project is likely to come up at Bilhaur, near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"The work on ground for the thermal power project will begin in the first week of January next year," sources said.

The project comes under the constituency of Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal. The coal linkage is yet to be recommended by Central Electricity Authority, sources said.

The Memorandum of Understanding for the availability of land and water for the project was signed in December, 2010.

NTPC is awaiting environment clearance for the project from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The company's installed capacity is over 34,000 MW and it plans to further ramp it up to 75,000 MW 2017, from all sources of energy.

NTPC recently commisioned its first super-critical power project at Sipat in Chhattisgarh. The Sipat project has three units of 660 MW in stage I and 2 units of 500 MW in stage II, which are already operational.

The beneficiaries of the Sipat project are Western Region states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli.

Also construction work is in progress at 15 projects totalling 15,740 MW capacity. NTPC is also pursuing other new projects beyond 12th Plan (2012-17) and the same are under various stages of planning, clearances and approvals.

Click to expand...

Reliance Power expects to commission its 2,400 mw, gas-based power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh faster with the arrival of two turbines from General Electric (GE) a month ahead of schedule.

The project, which is an expansion over an existing 220 mw capacity, has been taken up with an outlay of Rs10,000 crore.

It is scheduled to go into open-cycle commissioning by March 2012, while the combined cycle commissioning has been scheduled for December 2012.

“The arrivals of turbines early gives us hope of executing the project ahead of schedule though it is early to specify the time that will be saved,” a source told DNA.

The first batch of two GE turbines reached the Kakinada port in April instead of late May when it was scheduled, from Greenville, South Carolina.

Reliance Power is hopeful of receiving the balance four turbines too ahead of their schedule.

“This will help us commission all the gas turbines within the 11th Five-Year Plan. On commissioning, the project will contribute over 16,000 million units (kWh) to the power-deficit southern region,” the source said.

Reliance Power had placed the main plant equipment order for its Samalkot expansion project with GE in October 2010.

The order comprising six gas turbines, three steam turbines and generators for the power project is supported by long-term project recourse finance from the US Exim Bank.

GE is also responsible for maintenance of the power project throughout its operating life, along with guaranteed availability, output and efficiency. The order is the largest order for GE in India and one of the largest for it globally.

The Samalkot project was also recently lauded by the US president Obama for helping create about 1,600 jobs in the US backed by the order placed on GE.

Click to expand...

NTPC Ltd, India’s biggest power company, has put off plans to raise around $500 million through a dollar denominated notes in Singapore because of deteriorating sentiment for corporate bonds.

NTPC wanted to pay an interest rate of 9.25%, whereas investors sought 9.60%, said sources familiar with the development.
With interest rates elevated in India, NTPC was hoping for a better deal abroad.

“The market is not good right now. Investors are apprehensive and the situation in Greece is seen having an adverse impact on the bond market. We will have to wait for some time to raise money,” an NTPC official told DNA on Monday.

The company had organised roadshows for potential investors in Singapore and Hong Kong in the last week of May.

Barclays Capital, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland were the book runners.

According to initial plans, the NTPC bond, with a maturity of 10 years, was to be listed on the Singapore stock exchange on June 4.

NTPC is planning to add 5,000 mw of capacity in the next fiscal for which it is raising funds from the domestic and international markets.

The company also has significant expansion plans for its coal- and gas-based power plants and it is also trying to acquire coal assets abroad.

NTPC has also sought the help of the Ministry of Power to raise funds through tax-free bonds in India.

The Ministry of Finance takes the final call on allowing government companies to raise funds through tax-free bonds.

NTPC has around Rs20,000 crore of cash reserves on its balance sheet.

With over 27 power generating stations across the country, NTPC’s total installed capacity is around 33,194 mw now.

The company is currently setting up projects with a capacity of 17,000 mw and it plans to produce 75,000 mw by 2017.

Click to expand...

Tata Power today announced the commissioning of new personal computer-based training simulators for 250 Mw and 500 Mw thermal units at its Trombay Thermal Power Station.

These simulators were inaugurated by Tata Power's Executive Director (Operations), S Padmanabhan, along with the company's VP (Mumbai Operations) Ashok Sethi, as well as other senior officials, a press release issued here said.

"The rollout of training simulators reiterates our concerted efforts to achieve high standards of operational efficiency and excellence. We are certain that the simulators will set new industry benchmarks for training of operation and maintenance personnel," Padmanabhan said.
They will not only train the company's engineers working across its various power plants in the country, but will also be used by aspiring engineers of other power plants in India as well as overseas.

The PC-based simulators are an invaluable tool for training operation and maintenance personnel as training is imparted in a short time and at no risk, as compared to the conventional in-plant training, the release said.

The main objective is to train and assess operators in general plant operation, including training in plant start-up and shut-down, supervision, monitoring and control during normal, emergency situations and in safety procedures without entailing any fuel expenditure, or endangering plant equipment.

In addition to these, these simulators can also be used as a powerful tool for engineers and plant management to verify process design and control strategies, prior to start-up of a plant as well as investigation and testing of operational problems, that are normally not allowed under real plant normal operating conditions.

Click to expand...

NEW DELHI: State-run lending agency Power Finance Corp may raise Rs 5,000 crore through a tax-free bond issue, a move that would result in lowering borrowing costs for the company.

Following the issuance of the tax-free bonds, the company -- which is engaged in financing power generation and transmission projects -- would be able to borrow at a lower interest rate from the market.

The Ministry of Finance's go-ahead for the issuance of these bonds can be expected in a day or two.

"We are awaiting the Ministry of Finance's nod to allow Power Finance Corp to raise Rs 5,000 crore through tax-free bonds in the current fiscal," a senior Power Ministry official said, adding that the approval can be expected in a day or two.

Power Finance Corp has set a target for borrowing Rs 30,000 crore during the current financial year (2011-12).

"The cost of financing has gone up... These (tax-free) bonds would bring down the borrowing cost for PFC and it is a good way to tap new sources of finance," KPMG Executive Director Arvind Mahajan told PTI.

The Power Ministry is of the view that it may bring the borrowing cost for the company down by about 1.5 per cent. However, analysts think the impact may be more substantial.

Last year, Power Finance Corp was given infrastructure finance company status -- a move that enabled the entity to mop up funds through the issue of tax-free infrastructure bonds.

Power Finance Corp came out with a follow-on public offer last month and raked in over Rs 3,400 crore of the total proceeds of Rs 4,700 crore from the FPO.

The government holds about an 84 per cent stake in PFC. PFC will utilise the proceeds from the FPO for meeting its lending and disbursement targets this fiscal (2011-12).

Click to expand...

Jairam Ramesh the so called pro environment minister has been on a sudden spree of clearing all coal and power projects which he has held up on "Environemntal grounds". It would be intresteing to find out what suddenly happened which made these projects suddenly "Non objectionable".

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/jairams-sudden-clearance-rushcoal/441433/

Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, often criticised for his controversial ‘no-go’ policy on mining in foreted areas, has been on a clearance spree of late. The heightened activity on permissions to power and mining projects, which had been stuck for long, coincides with the run-up to a likely reshuffle of the council of ministers this month.

In the past week, the minister has cleared at least nine coal blocks earlier caught in the go/no-go maze since 2009. The blocks were allotted to NTPC, the Oriss Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL), among others.

On June 23, Ramesh had given approval to opening the Tara, Parsa East and Kante Basan blocks in the Hasdeo-Arand forest region of Chhattisgarh. The blocks were opened despite the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) recommending against it.

The ministry of coal had awarded the Parsa East and Kente Basan coal blocks to RRVUNL to feed two thermal power projects in Rajasthan. The Adani Group and RRVUNL had formed a joint venture firm, Parsa Kente Collieries Ltd, to develop these mines. Tara was allotted to Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation.

On June 29, the environment ministry gave clearance to another six coal blocks in Orissa, of which five were in the no-go area. Of these, three (Meenakshi-A, Meenakshi-B and Meenakshi Dipside) have been allocated to the 4,000 Mw UMPP. Two blocks (Manoharpur and Manoharpur Dipside) were allocated to the 1,320 Mw power plant of OPGC and one (Dulanga) to NTPC's 1,600 Mw unit. These six cleared blocks could free generation of 6,000 Mw.

The state governments involved — mainly Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh — have been persistently following the issue with the ministry and also the Prime Minister for several months, citing development concerns.

Incidentally, while clearing the coal blocks in Chhattisgarh, minister Ramesh said his decision came from the “imperative to sustain the momentum generated in the 11th Plan in terms of capacity addition…I have necessarily to keep the broader development picture in mind and balance out different objectives and considerations.”

During the 11th Plan (2007-2012), 52,000 Mw is expected to be added, as compared to 21,000 Mw in the previous Plan period. Of this, 42,000 Mw is expected to be coal-based capacity, as compared to 15,000 Mw in the 10th Plan period.

The environment ministry started to classify the country’s forests as ‘Go’ and ‘No-Go’ areas from 2009. The categorisation specifies regions where coal mining could be permitted only after stringent forest clearances were obtained. The decision came under severe criticism from the power ministry, with several projects stuck due to the classification. The outcome was formation of a group of ministers (GoM) this February to sort out the tussles on the issue. The 12-member GoM has met thrice -- in February, April and June -- but is yet to reach any consensus.

Coal is a critical input for fuelling growth of major infrastructure sectors such as power, steel and cement. Any irreversible slump in coal production, thus, directly affects the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth. In all, 203 blocks were in the no-go areas. The output from these can generate around 130,000 Mw of power per annum, says the coal ministry. The ‘no go’ criterion covers nine coalfields, including Singrauli, North Karanpura, Ib Valley, Mand-Raigarh, Talcher, Sohagpur, Wardha Valley, Hasdeo-Arand and West Bokaro.

On the back of increased capacity addition, power generation in the country rose more than 8% to 70.4 billion units in June as compared to the same period a year ago, says a report.

The country witnessed electricity generation of 64.8 billion units in June 2010.

"In June 2011, all India [power] generation grew 8.6% year-on-year to 70 billion units, led by an increase in installed capacity by 10 GW (10,000 Mw) over the past 12 months and higher PLFs [Plant Load Factors] of nuclear and hydro plants," according to a report from brokerage firm Motilal Oswal.
Out of total production last month, 55.9 billion units came from thermal plants that run on coal, lignite and gas. Hydro projects generated 11.9 billion units of electricity during the same period.

"Private sector generation grew 21% YoY, the state sector by 11% YoY and the central sector by 3%," the report said.

Overall, Plant Load Factor (PLF) -- an indicator of a power project's efficiency -- inched up to 61.8% last month as against 61% in the year-ago period.

However, the PLF of plants, fired by coal and lignite, declined to 73.4% in June 2011. The same stood at 74.7% in the same period a year ago.

India is expected to see a capacity addition of about 51,000 Mw in the 11th five-year plan (2007-12).

Click to expand...

Power utility NHPC today said it will invest Rs 2,400 crore on setting up three projects in J&K under a joint venture with Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation and PTC India.

The joint venture entity -- Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd -- will implement three projects having a total capacity of over 2,100 MW. These are: Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Kiru (600 MW) and Kwar (520 MW).

"The total investment to be made by the joint venture firm will be around Rs 15,000 crore. NHPC's equity contribution toward the entity will be around Rs 2,400 crore," NHPC Chairman and Managing Director A B L Srivastava told PTI in an interview.
He said the joint venture company's first project -- Pakal Dul -- is expected to be complete in six to seven years.

The three projects will be funded in a debt-equity ratio of 70:30.

Chenab Valley Power Projects was incorporated earlier this month.

In December, 2010, Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corp, NHPC and PTC India had inked a promoter's agreement for setting up the new entity.

Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corp and NHPC would have 49 per cent stake each in the joint venture firm, while the remaining shareholding would be with PTC India.

Out of NHPC's installed capacity of about 5,300 MW, over 1,600 MW comes from J&K.

The company is presently operating four projects in J&K, having a total capacity of 1,680 MW. These are: Salal (690 MW), Uri-I (480 MW), Dulhasti (390 MW) and Sewa-II (120 MW).

The state-run firm plans to add another 690 MW of capacity by commissioning five projects -- Chutak (44 MW), Uri-II (240 MW), Chamera-III (231 MW), the first unit of Parbati-III (130 MW) and Nimmo-Bazgo (45 MW) -- by March, 2012.

Currently, NHPC -- the country's largest hydro electric power producer -- is engaged in the construction of ten projects at various locations in the country, having a total installed capacity of 4,502 MW.

Click to expand...

The country's largest hydro power producer NHPC will soon finalise a joint venture with the Orissa government for setting up three hydel projects having a total capacity of 300 MW in the state.

The three proposed hydro power projects would come up at Sindol, near Dhenkanal.

"We are in discussions with the Orissa government for a joint venture and things are expected to be finalised very soon, probably in a one month's time," NHPC CMD A B L Srivastava told PTI.
NHPC would have a 51% stake in the joint venture, while the remaining 49 per cent would be with the Orissa government.

"The three projects (would have) a total capacity of about 300 MW," he said.

Going by estimates, Orissa has hydro power generation capacity of over 2,000 MW, with contributions from plants at Hirakud, Balimela, Rengali, Upper Kolab, Upper Indravati and Macchkund.

Meanwhile, NHPC is also looking at expanding its presence into other states, including Uttarakhand.

"We are expecting to get more projects from other states, including Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh," Srivastava said.

The state-run entity has an installed capacity of about 5,300 MW and is planning to add around 700 MW by commissioning five projects by March, 2012.

At present, NHPC is engaged in the construction of ten projects, having a total capacity of 4,502 MW. The upcoming projects are Chutak (44 MW), Uri-II (240 MW), Chamera-III (231 MW), the first unit of Parbati-III (130 MW) and Nimmo-Bazgo (45 MW).

Click to expand...

Lanco Infratech today said it would invest Rs 35,000 crore for setting up thermal power plants in the country and may partly raise the amount by hiving off its power business.

"We will definitely make power a separate entity...May be in the next two years," Executive Chairman Lanco Infratech L Madhusudan Rao told reporters while unveiling the group's new logo.

Lanco Infratech plans to have a power generation capacity of 15,000 Mw by 2015 for which it requires investment to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore. The current installed capacity of the company is 3,300 Mw.

"About 9,300 Mw projects are under operation and under advance stages of construction and work would also commence on the remaining 6,000 Mw in the next 3-4 months as the funds would be tied up by that time," Rao said.

The company is in talks with various banks and financial institutions for funding the debt portion of the Rs 35,000 crore investment. The project would be funded at a debt and equity ratio of 80:20.

Lanco Infratech, which is currently sourcing the power equipment from China, is open to the idea of manufacturing it on its own.

"We are looking at it, but right now it is too early to comment," Rao said.

The company is spreading its operations overseas and is hopeful of winning power projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia and in the Middle-East.

"We have qualified for projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia and in the Middle-East...They are yet to be finalised," he said.

Lanco Infratech, which acquired Griffin coal mine in Australia, is now focusing upon acquisition of more coal assets in Indonesia, South Africa, Australia and India.

"Right now we have sufficient coal reserves to fulfil our demand," he added.

Click to expand...