After receiving encouraging response from private players in developing a 1,320 Mega Watt Rajpura Thermal Power Project, the Punjab State Electricity Board is expecting to issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the successful bidder for this project by the end of this month.
"We are hoping to complete the bidding process by the end of October and we expect that the letter of intent will also be issued in the same period," a senior official of PSEB said today.
PSEB has received technical and price bids from seven companies including Larsen & Toubro Power Development, GMR Urja, Adani Power, Welspun Urja India, Lanco Infratech Power Project, Allinace Hydro Power and JSW Urja.
"The number of price bids submitted for this project (Rajpura Power) clearly indicates the keenness of companies in developing the same," he said.
Notably, the state electricity board, when it invited bids for the first time last year, managed to receive only a single financial bid from Lanco Infratech with a levelised tariff of Rs 3.38 per unit despite eight other companies, including Reliance Power, Tata Power, Essar Power, being adjudged qualified bidders.
At that time, the global downturn was cited as the main reason behind staying away of companies from this project.
However, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) declined to give approval to the lone bid of Lanco Infratech, leading to reinvite bids this year.
The first unit of 660 MW of Rajpura Thermal Power project is expected to start in the first quarter of 2014, while the second unit would start in the next three months of operationalisation of first unit.
Proposed to be awarded to developers on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis, the project would involve an investment ranging between Rs 5,000-6,000 crore.
Meanwhile, work at the 1,980 MW Talwandi Sabo project being developed by Vedanta Group Company Sterlite Energy Ltd is going in full swing, the official said.
The order for the Engineering Plant and Construction has been given to a Chinese company SEPCO for its execution, he said.
Sterlite hopes to complete the financial closure of this project by December 2009.
Punjab plans to add another 3,800 MW of additional thermal power generation capacity by 2014 against present thermal capacity of 2,700 MW.