Vishal Exports to set up Rs 550 cr power projects

The Ahmedabad-based Vishal Exports Overseas Ltd (VEOL) will invest close to Rs 550 crore to set up a wind farm project in Tamil Nadu and five hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

The company has signed power purchase agreements with the electricity boards of these states and will sell power to them. While the PPA with the Tamil Nadu SEB will be for ten years, the pact with other two SEBs will be for 40 years.

VEOL chief financial officer Natrajan TG said that the investment for the Tamil Nadu project, to be commissioned in the next two years, will be Rs 450 crore.

The company will invest Rs 100 crore for the power projects in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal with a combined capacity of 20 mw. Three are scheduled to come up in Himachal Pradesh, while two will be in Uttaranchal.

"The projects will be financed through a combination of debt and equity. For the Rs 450-crore wind farm project, about Rs 300 crore will be in the form of debt from banks and FIs, while the remaining Rs 150 crore will be in the form of equity," Natrajan said.

On the hydro power projects, he said that Rs 70 crore will be in the form of debt and the remaining 30 per cent in the form of equity.

"In total, the debt portion will be about Rs 370 crore and the equity portion around Rs 180 crore. We are still working out the mode to raising equity," he stated.

VEOL has already commissioned 19 wind turbine generators in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, aggregating to 16.20 mw, at a total project cost of Rs 69 crore. VOEL recently commissioned its Rs 5.60 crore, 1-mw hydropower project through its subsidiary Hateshwari Om Enterprises Private Ltd at Rohru near Shimla.

Natrajan the company will be in a position to sell power to private companies and the Power Trading Corporation in two or three years.

Asked whether the company is considering power distribution, Natrajan said, "VEOL is still not a big player in power generation. Once we stabilise in this sector, we will definitely look at power distribution."