Reliance Energy eyes Machilipatnam port

Bids for Hyderabad Metro Rail Project too

Reliance Energy Limited, the flagship company of Anil Ambani, is among the nine companies that have responded to the Andhra Pradesh government's invitation for expression of interest (EoI) to develop the Machilipatnam deepwater port in Krishna district.

Estimated to cost around Rs 1,100 crore for the proposed development, this historic minor port is fourth in the series to be developed into a deepwater port under private sector. The state government is providing 3,000 acres of land required for the infrastructure towards its equity in the port project.

The other companies, which have evinced interest in the Machilipatnam project include D V S Raju & New Wave Infrastructure Projects Limited, IMC Limited, Marg Construction Limited, N C S Industries Private Limited, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Gammon India Limited & Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited, Maytas-NCC Consortium and Zoom Developers Private Limited.

Speaking to Business Standard, Machilipatnam parliament member Badiga Ramakrishna said their efforts to restore the past glory were finally yielding fruits.

With the officials concerned being enthused by the response to the port project from many big companies, which is comparable in terms of investment to the proposed development of Gangavaram port in Vizag district, the Reliance Energy's keenness on the project assumes even greater significance.

In the past, the undivided Reliance group had proposed to set up a huge gas-based power project and petrochemical complex near the port town of Kakinada, which is the access point for the evacuation of natural gas to be produced in off-shore blocks of the KG-Basin.

Against this backdrop, the move by Reliance Energy Limited is viewed as part of a larger investment strategy as the government is also planning to develop a port-based special economic zone (SEZ) in Machilipatnam in which the developer of the port is expected to have a larger say.

Besides, neither Anil nor the Reliance Industries Limited-controlled by Mukesh Ambani, which had announced plans to start the production of over 11 MSCMD of natural gas in the K-G Basin from 2008, have a say in the Kakinada port or the Kakinada SEZ.

The ONGC, together with Kakinada Sea Ports Limited (KSPL) and IL&FS, had announced the setting up of a huge refinery plant at Kakinada besides development of an SEZ in 10,000 acres adjacent to the Kakinada deepwater port. At present, RIL has a 220-megawatt combined cycle gas-power project at Samlkote in East Godavari district.

Meanwhile, RIL is also understood to have submitted a bid for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project on the last date for the submission of proposals here on Monday in consortium with Bombardier, a Canada-based multibillion dollar company.