Lanco tops Reliance, Essar bids for Anpara

The Hyderabad-based Lanco Group has outbid Reliance Energy and Essar Group for the 1,000-Mw Anpara C thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh.

Showcased as India's first tariff-based competitive bidding project, the power project already has all major approvals in place.

"We are confident of completing the project on time as we realise the importance of this project for the state in meeting its power needs," Lanco Group Chairman L Mashusudhan Rao said in a release.

The bids for the project were opened today. Ernst & Young will prepare a evaluation report on the bids placed by different players and present it to the evaluation committee set up by the UP government. Industry sources believe the final announcement will be made within a week.

The UP government has tied up the project's coal and water linkages, besides putting in place the evacuation line and power purchase agreement with distribution companies promoted by the UP State Electricity Board.

The project, located in the Sonebhadra district of UP, will have a pit-head station with linkages from the Northern Coal Fields Ltd. The expected project cost is around Rs 4,000 crore. Ernst & Young is the government's adviser for the project.