Aditya Birla group to foray into power again

Group expresses interest to set up a 4,000MW project after a gap of almost 10 years.

The Aditya Birla group is foraying into power generation once again. After its aborted attempts to enter power generation with the Rosa and Bina power projects in the 1990s, the group has expressed interest in setting up a 4,000-Mw ultra mega-power project after a gap of almost 10 years.

The Centre had invited expressions of interest for two of the five proposed ultra mega-power projects on January 31. While Aditya Birla group executives said it was too early to make any comment, a Power Finance Corporation (PFC) executive said that an Aditya Birla group team was expected to attend a bidders' conference here tomorrow.

Although the executive did not specifically say that the group had expressed interest in the Mundra power project, he said Birla executives were expected to be a part of a recce team.

The site visit for the coastal imported-coal-based Mundra project is slated for the February 22, while the visit for the pit head-based Sasan project is slated for February 24.

The PFC executive said all the private players in the power sector had expressed interest in the projects. He added that around 10 bidders were expected to attend tomorrow's meeting, including Tata Power and Reliance Energy.

The PFC is the nodal agency for ultra mega-power projects.

Under the guidelines issued by the power ministry for ultra mega-power projects, special purpose vehicles which will acquire land, will float a tender once all the preliminary work is complete.

The PFC has already created two SPVs for the two projects - Coastal Gujarat Power Limited for Mundra and Sasan Power Limited. The projects are being offered on a build-own-operate basis.

This is the first time the Aditya Birla group has forayed into power generation after its abortive attempts to enter the sector in the early 90s when it was first opened up for private participation. The projects were abandoned by the group after they ran into financial hurdles and delays.

Early last year, the group had announced that it was taking a relook at its power strategy.

Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said though the company had finally decided to abandon the 578 Mw Bina power project, it was keen on reviving the 567-Mw Rosa project. He said a feasibility study on the Rosa project was on.

While the Bina project in Madhya Pradesh was to be set up by the Bina Power Supply Company, a 51:49 joint venture between the AV Birla group and PowerGen (UK), the coal-fired Rosa project was to come up in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.