Udupi Power Corporation Lted (UPCL), a subsidiary of Lanco Infratech Ltd, an infrastructure developer, will invest Rs 600 crore more to enhance the capacity of its thermal power project from the present 1,015 Mw to 1,200 Mw, a senior company official said.
“We have completed the construction of the plant and are ready to start production by March-end. The first consignment of imported coal from Indonesia has arrived and we have already lit up the boiler and synchronise end of this month. We are presently waiting for the establishment of a 400 Kva line by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) to evacuate power,” Kishore Alva, general manager, corporate affairs, UPCL told Business Standard.
UPCL has already invested Rs 4,300 crore to set up its thermal power plant at Nandikur, about 35 kms from Mangalore in coastal Karnataka. The project is funded by a consortium of 14 banks led by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) in the debt equity ratio of 80:20.
The Karnataka cabinet, on Wednesday, approved the capacity expansion of the project.
As against the required 400 kva line, as agreed in the PPA with the company, the KPTCL has set up only a 200 kva power line at Kemmar near Karkala in Dakshina Kannada district. This is capable of evacuating only 200 Mw of power from the plant to the main national grid at Hassan.
“If the government does not set up 400 kva line, it will not be possible for us to evacuate power completely and we cannot afford to keep the plant idle. They have promised to do it by April this year. As per the agreement, we can even terminate the PPA, if they fail to provide us a 400 kva line,” Alva said.
The path of way has also not established to erect poles and towers to transmit the power through the forest area in Western Ghats. The state government is still to get the clearance from the ministry of environment and forests, he said.
