Jaypee targets 1,700 mw capacity by 2010

Citing a promising future for the power sector in the country, Delhi-based Jaypee Group said that it would emerge as the largest hydro power player in the private sector by 2010 with a total installed capacity of 1,700 mw.

Jayaprakash Hydro-Power Limited (JHPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jayaprakash Associates Limited (JAL) which is part of the Rs 3,000-crore Jaypee group, is the first hydro power venture which runs a 300 mw hydel plant in Himachal Pradesh.

The Jaypee Group is scheduled to commission its second hydel project of 400 mw capacity in June 2006 and is expected to complete the 1,000 mw hydel project in 2010.

According to Suresh Kumar, director of the group, the two projects are being taken up by two different subsidiaries other than JAL.

Referring to JAL's plans of offering 36.66 per cent stake in JHPL to public through a book-building route here on Thursday, Suresh Kumar said the prospective investors in the company can feel doubly safe as the construction of the project was already over.

The plant became operational in June 2003 with a 40-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board, he said.

The issue will open on March 22, 2005 and close on March 29, 2005.

The price band is set between Rs 27 and Rs 32 per share at a face value of Rs 10 each.