Giving details, NHPC officials told The Financial Express that the bidder has to be a individual firm or a consortium of firms, which alone or as a joint venture has the experience of having designed and executed a hydro-electric project of comparable standards on a turnkey basis.

Moreover, the bidders will be asked to submit price bid proposals assuming availability of 15 per cent of project cost as equity support from the Government of India and the balance 85 per cent financing to be arranged by the bidder. The tender inviting ICBs will be floated soon.

However, in case of joint venture, each of the partners will be required to have a minimum participation of 25 per cent each and the leader of the consortium will have to be a leading civil works contractor, as the job involves designing and engineering in a big way.

Moreover, as per NHPC officials, the joint venture partners should have a legally valid agreement for such a co-operation and at least one member of the JV should be either a turbine manufacturer or major civil works contractor. The period of completion of this project would be seven years.

The ICB tender for this project is in line with that of the 480 mw Uri hydro-electric project which was awarded to a consortium of Swedish companies lead by Skanska International.

Interestingly, NHPC had earlier conducted detailed surveys on the Kishanganga project, which was later taken back by the J&K government to execution at the state level. However, after eight years the project has been handed back to NHPC without any progress.

This project will be implemented by NHPC under the recent MoU signedbetween the power ministry and the J&K government for implementation of seven hydroelectric projects in the state aggregating 2798 mw.

The projects are the 330 mw Kishanganga, 280 mw Uri stage II, 1020 mw Bursar, the 120 mw Sewa stage II, 1000 mw Pakal Dul, 30 mw Nimmo Bazgo and the 18 mw Chuctak project.

These projects will be executed in phases and will be completed by NHPC in a period of about 10 years. Other projects which have already been executed by NHPC in J&K includes the Salal stage I and stage II besides the Uri stage I, totalling 1170 mw. Another 390 mw Dulhasti hydro-electric project is under execution by NHPC in the state.

As per the recent MoU signed between the centre and the state, the Jammu and Kashmir government will get 12 per cent free power from these projects besides its normal share of power. In addition, they will also get 15 per cent central share of unallocated power at bus-bar rates to meet its need for winter peak requirements.