``We have already asked the shortlisted companies/consortia to give their presentations by next month,'' a senior official of the state energy department told The Financial Express. He said that the selection of partners for the projects would be completed within a month or two.

Meanwhile, the state government has formed a five-member selection committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary to the energy department, TK Mishra, to study the presentations and recommend names of the private companies/consortia to be taken as partners for the projects. The state government will sign separatememoranda of understanding with the selected partners for the development of the projects. However, it has been decided that the EPC (equipment, procurement and construction) contract of the projects would be awarded through the international competitive bidding (ICB) route.

Besides Enron, Marubeni and Sichuan, the three other companies/consortia shortlisted are Pacific Power International of Australia, Secunderabad-based Visakha Industries Ltd and Mahanadi Hydro Power Corporation. While Visakha Industries has formed a consortium with two European companies -- Lay Meyer International and CKD Blansko Engineering -- the Mahanadi Hydro Power Corporation has formed a joint venture company with Knight Pie Sold of the UK.

The Orissa Government has identified five hydel projects -- Chiplima-B, Hirakud-B, Sindol-I, II and III --- to be developed in joint venture with the private companies/consortia. For the Chiplima-B and Hirakud-B projects, the state had already prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) in 1994.In the DPRs, the capital cost of the Chiplima-B (4x50 MW) and Hirakud-B (4x52 MW) were estimated at Rs 481 crore and Rs 593 crore respectively. The three projects of Sindol (16x20 MW) on the downstream of river Mahanadi were estimated to cost about Rs 1,674 crore. However, fresh DPRs for the five projects would be prepared after the private partners were selected.

OHPC, which has been spun off as a corporate body to handle hydro power generation in the state following the disbundling of the Orissa State Electricity Board, owns five power stations under operation with an aggregate installed capacity of 1,272 MW and with a design energy of around 4,000 million units.

The corporation is currently implementing two projects -- Indravati and Potteru -- of a total capacity of 600 MW at an estimated cost of Rs 1,125 crore. With their commissioning by 2000, the total installed capacity of OHPC would be 1,878 MW with an annual energy benefit of 6,000 million units.