Amidst all the talks of coal supply issues, the GMR group is going ahead with the commissioning of the two thermal power projects in Odisha and Maharashtra starting next month.
"The commissioning of the first 350MW unit of GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited in Odisha and the 300MW unit of EMCO Energy Limited (Warora power project) in Maharashtra will start from October-November and the progressive commissioning of the units will be completed before the end of the current financial year," a GMR spoksperson told Business Standard.
The Odisha project was proposed with an installed capacity of 1,050MW but the company is scaling it up to 1,400MW with 4 units of 350 mw each, while the Warora project is of 600 MW capacity.
In addition to these two projects, the company is also executing the 1370MW Chattisgarh power project through GMR Chattisgarh Energy Limited, and it is scheduled to be completed in 2014.
The Bangalore-based energy-to-airports conglomerate is investing about Rs 17,000 crore on the three projects by funding them on 75:25 debt equity ratio.
Most of the equity has already been invested and the balance will be funded through internal accruals, said the company spokesperson.
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The debt funding of all the three projects has also been fully tied up, according to the official.
On the crucial question of how the company is going to meet the coal requirement for the upcoming projects, the spokesperson said that adequate coal linkages are in place from the subsidiaries of Coal India Limited.
It may be recalled that a coal reserve that was allotted to GMR in Odisha along with other power developers in 2008 for captive use has remained a non-starter.
With regard to the sale of power, Kamalanga project has signed long term PPAs including 350MW with Haryana state Discoms, 260MW with Bihar State Electricity Board and 262MW with Gridco, Odisha.
Similarly Warora project has PPAs with Maharashtra state distribution company and the distribution company of Dadra & Nagar Haveli for 200MW each.
Chattishgarh project has tied up for 35% of power with the state power utility and will tie up for major part of the capacity on long term PPAs before the project achieves commissioning, according to the company official.
GMR has also proposed to set up a 1320MW thermal project in Madhya Pradesh but is yet to receive coal linkages and other clearances.
The company currently operates a 388.5MW Vemagiri gas power project in Andhra Pradesh while an expansion project of similar size has been already been completed.
Two other projects, a 220MW barge mounted gas power plant at Kakinada and a 200MW LSHS fuel (processed from the residue of indigenous crude) power plant in Chennai are also currently in operation.
The company has plans to develop power projects with a total capacity of 8,473MW by the year 2018.