The Anil Ambani group controlled Reliance Power Ltd has emerged as the front-runner for the 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand.
Reliance’s bid was the lowest among the five bidders for the project.
Mr J.P. Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Power, told Business Line that Reliance’ bid of Rs 1.77 per unit levelised tariff, has emerged as the lowest among the five bidders.
The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is likely to make a formal announcement about the winning bidder shortly. The financial bids for the project were opened on Wednesday. A committee, which includes representatives of the government of Jharkhand and Bihar, selected the lowest bidder.
Reliance Power has already bagged the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Madhya Pradesh and Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. For the Sasan project, the per unit levelised tariff is Rs 1.19 and for Krishnapatnam it is Rs 2.33.
The Tilaiya project entails an investment of about Rs 16,000 crore and will have a debt equity ratio of 75:25. Mr Chalasani said Reliance Power will raise Rs 12,000 in debt to finance the project. As there is a global decline in prices of metals, the company will be able to procure equipment for the project at a lower cost, he said.
The final bids for the project were submitted on December 29, 2008. Apart from Reliance Power, NTPC Ltd, Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and LANCO Infratech in consortium with Genting Power International Ltd, Malaysia, were the other bidders for the project.
The project includes construction, operation and maintenance of 4000 MW power plant based on super critical technology with flexibility in unit size, based on domestic coal for its lifecycle.
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