Mumbai-based Patel Engineering Ltd, a construction company specialising in hydro-power generation and irrigation, is planning to invest around Rs 5,000 crore to set up a thermal power plant in Nagapatnam district of Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to Business Standard, Rupen Patel, managing director, Patel Engineering, said the company would set up a 1,320 mega watt (Mw) capacity thermal power plant at Nagapatnam. The project, to come up on 800 acres of land, will be developed in phases. “This will depend on the equipment supplier for which bidding is still on,” he said
The company hopes to achieve financial closure for the project by the first quarter of 2010-11 and commence work by the second quarter. It has set a three-year deadline to complete the project, which would be funded through debt and equity.
Patel said they had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) to sell the power produced from the proposed plant. The plant would generate around Rs 3,000 crore revenues a year, when fully operational.
The project would require 3.6-4 million tonne coal for which it has applied to the coal ministry and is also planning to enter into an agreement with Chennai-based Marg Ltd.
The company’s power vertical is in the process of setting up a 90-Mw hydro power project at Gongri in Arunachal Pradesh and a 550Mw thermal power plant in Gujarat.