In a record of sorts, the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Power Limited (RPL) has agreed to advance the commissioning of the country?s first ultra-mega power project?the 4,000-mw Sasan project?by three years. From the earlier commissioning date of April 2016, Reliance Power has confirmed the advancement of Sasan UMPP to March 2013.
RPL, in a recent letter to power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, has also committed to contribute 1,320 mw from Sasan to the 11th Plan capacity addition programme of the government. This is being done by advancing the commissioning of two units of Sasan of 660 mw each to March 2012 from the earlier plan of December 2013.
The ministry of power has already instructed Power Grid Corporation of India Limited to make necessary arrangements for timely evacuation of power from Sasan.
RPL has already awarded the Rs 14,000 cr ($3.5 bn) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work for Sasan project to its group company Reliance Infrastructure, which has further placed the order for procuring boilers, turbine and generators (contract of Rs 10,000 cr) on Shanghai Electric Corporation of China.
Alongside, in one of the biggest Indo-China deal in the infrastructure sector, Reliance Infrastructure had recently announced another major tie up with Shanghai Electric Corp of China to tap business opportunities in the Indian power sector by floating a joint venture company. This JV company will set up facilities to manufacture boilers, turbines and generators in India.
The manufacturing venture of Reliance Infra and Shanghai Electric will not just supply equipments to projects in India but also to other companies in South Asia. The joint venture, which is likely to be located near Andhra Pradesh, will be ready by 2010.
The venture will compete with state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd,India’s biggest power-equipment-maker, to supply Indian utilities that are expanding capacity to meet rising demand in the world?s second-fastest growing economy.
On the financing side, Reliance Power has secured government?s permission to raise over $4 billion (Rs 17,000 crore) through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) to fund the 4,000 mw each Sasan and Krishnapatnama UMPPs.
ECB is one of the cheapest ways of raising funds from the international markets. A consortium of international banks, including Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, and ABN Amro will raise debt for RPL. For the Sasan Project, Chinese development banks will also be part of the consortium.
Reliance Power is currently developing three power projects ? Rosa Phase I (600 mw) and the Sasan ultra mega power project (3,960 mw) and the 4,000 mw Krishnapatnam ultra mega power project. While for Sasan, three mines have been awarded by the government to meet the coal requirements of the project, Reliance Power has already acquired coal mines in Indonesia to fuel the Krishnapatnam power project.
For the quarter ending June 30, 2008, Reliance Power has posted a net profit of Rs 61 crore. The total income of Reliance Power went up to Rs 81 crore, while its earnings per share (EPS) stood at 26 paise.