The Anil Ambani controlled Reliance Power Limited (RPL) has bagged the 4,000-mw imported coal based Krishnapatnam power project in Andhra Pradesh. RPL?s bid was the lowest at Rs 2.33 a unit as against Rs 2.68 of L&T and Rs 4.19 of Sterlite Industries.
This is the second ultra mega power project bagged by Reliance Power, out of three?Sasan Mundra and Krishnapatnam?awarded so far. RPL now has in its kitty the 4,000-mw Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh, besides, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The Mundra project in Gujarat has gone to Tata Power.
The price bids for the Rs 16,000 crore Krishnapatnam power project were opened by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which is the nodal agency responsible for bidding for UMPPs, on Thursday evening.
A senior PFC official said RPL?s price was quiet competitive given the recent upsurge in the prices of imported coal. The letter of intent (LoI) for the project is likely to be issued to RPL before December.
While L&T had submitted bids for putting up four units of 1,000 mw each (4×1,000 mw), Sterlite has proposed 6×660 mw and Reliance 5×800 mw configurations. The benefits of this project shall be available in the 12th Plan.
In fact it was due to high coal prices that the Krishnapatnam project received a bleak response and as against nine pre-qualified bidders, financial bids were received from only three companies?Sterlite, L&T and Reliance Power. In contrast, Mundra project has received six while Sasan got nine bids.
Those who stayed out of the bidding for Krishnapatnam included Japan?s Sumitomo Corporation, GMR-China Light and Power combine and DS Construction with Israel Electric Company, Tata Power, Essar Power and NTPC.
The Krishnapatnam coastal project includes construction, operation and maintenance of a 4,000-mw plant based on super critical technology with flexibility on unit size. It will depend on imported coal for its lifecycle. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have been given the nod to off-take the entire power from the project.