The LNJ Bhilwara Group is wooing foreign companies to participate in its upcoming 192 mw hydro-electric Bus Bar power project in Himachal Pradesh.
"We are also talking to some big bulk consumers of power in the states of north India for the Allain Duhangan project," LNJ Bhilwara Group chairman, Ravi Jhunjhunwala said.
The group had recently signed the implementation agreement for the project with the government of Himachal Pradesh. Work on the project, which is expected to cost around Rs 950 crore, will commence by the end of the year.
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A detailed project report is being revised and updated for submission to the Central Electricity Authority for techno-economic clearance.
Meanwhile, the group's Malana Power Company today announced the beginning of commercial production at its 86 mw Malana Hydroelectric Power Project located in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.
"The Rs 350-crore project was completed in a record time of two-and-a-half years as against the conventionally accepted time of five years for a project of this size and complexity," Jhunjhunwala told newspersons here today.
The project is the first hydro-based independent power producer in the country and also the first to utilise the concept of inter-state transmission and use of electricity.
Initially, the project was supposed to feed the textile mills of the LNJ Bhilwara Group located in the state of Rajasthan.
However, as the proposed capacity expansions in the units has not happened, the group has reached an agreement to sell its power to the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB).
"It is an annual contract but we can renew it," Jhunjhunwala informed, adding, "The group companies are still two years away from utilising this power."
Malana Power Company sells power to DVB at Rs 2.45 per unit. The project was initially slated for commissioning in 2003. Accordingly, the interest payments by the company are to begin only in 2003.
Jhunjhunwala disclosed that the company had approached the financial institutions to accept interest payments from this year itself but in vain.
As per the company's projections, the power tariff at Bus Bar will go up from the current Rs 2.45 per unit to Rs 2.73 in 2003 before falling steadily to Rs 1.64 in 2010. This includes the 18 per cent return on equity guaranteed by the government.
Malana Power Company is not the group's first foray into power. LNJ Bhilwara Group flagship HEG Ltd runs two power projects in Madhya Pradesh with a combined capacity of 28 mw.
It also has a power consultancy joint venture called the Indo Canadian Consultancy Services with SW International, a Canadian consultancy firm.