The Tatas, Goenkas besides Reliance and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in the domestic arena and foreign players such as Siemens ABB, Altshom, Cobra from Spain, Alengoa, Furukawa and a South African company are among the 17 companies which have evinced interest in setting up transmission lines in India through the independent private transmission company (IPTC) route for eight projects totaling about Rs 22,800 crore.
The projects will be commissioned with technical assistance from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) which floated an expression of interest in June 2001.
PGCIL chairman and managing director R P Singh said, "While two of the eight projects are being identified for further negotiations, PGCIL is involved in tender evaluation and selection of parties."
Following this, it will be on the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to decide on the entities to be involved, he explained.
Singh informed that Bangladesh is now keen on joining hands with India for setting up power plants in Bangladesh for exchange of power. Eastern India has surplus power which can be transferred to west Bangladesh, while east Bangladesh's can transmit its power surplus to north-eastern India. Payments will be adjusted. This is expected to commence with a smaller project being commissioned to build up confidence.
PGCIL has also drawn up plans to enter the power distribution segment and has already received clearances for 12 circles including three locations in Uttar Pradesh, three in Bihar, two in Maharashtra, three in Gujarat and one in north Goa.
The distribution department of PGCIL will be spun into a wholly owned subsidiary that will later invite joint venture participation from private parties. PGCIL will hold a minuscule stake in each of these companies which will range from 10 per cent to 15 per cent and will mainly be involved as advisor-cum-consultant to lend its managerial and technical expertise for developing these 12 distribution circles.
The proposal to form a subsidiary will be placed at the company's board meeting scheduled for December 18.
PGCIL at present carries around 32,000 mw of power which will be enhanced by 23,000 mw by 2007 and to 200,000 mw in 2012. This will require a total investment of Rs 80,000 crore. PGCIL will generate around Rs 50,000 crore.
Around 25 per cent of this will be internal resources, while the rest will be in the form of loans and bonds. The rest, Rs 30,000 crore, will be from private investors through joint venture participation or IPTC route.
One project with Tata Power Co Ltd which is a JV with PGCIL is at a final stage of negotiation and contracts are expected to signed shortly with the TPC holding 59 per cent and PGIL, 41 per cent, informed Singh.
In other joint ventures, PGCIL will hold a minority stake with a maximum of 49 per cent which will vary from case to case. During the current year, PGCIL had set a billing target of Rs 2,175 crore and realisation till now has been about Rs 1,180 crore.
