CLP India to invest Rs 7,000 cr

CLP India, a subsidiary of power sector major CLP Holdings, plans to invest about Rs 7,000 crore in India. The company is also considering a foray into the solar power sector.

"We are looking at adding about 1,000 Mw; one-Mw capacity would require an investment of Rs 6-6.5 crore. To achieve the target, we expect a total investment of Rs 6,500-7,000 crore," said Mahesh Makhija, director (business development, renewables, CLP India. He added most of the expenses would be funded through project finance.

The company has set a capacity generation target of 2,000 Mw by the end of 2015. Recently, it exceeded capacity of 1,000 Mw by adding 130 Mw to its wind energy portfolio, through a wind energy farm in Maharashtra.

Makhija said in the recent past, the company has been aggressively developing capacity. It had added about 330 Mw in the last six months, he added. For this, the company had invested Rs 2,172 crore, and the new capacity was predominantly in Maharashtra and Gujarat, he said.

Of the company's existing wind power capacity, Maharashtra accounted for about 40 per cent, Rajasthan 25-30 per cent, Gujarat about 15 per cent and Tamil Nadu about 10 per cent, he said.

CLP India's wind portfolio is spread across five states---Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The company was scouting for opportunities in the solar power sector and planned to start operations by setting up 5-10 Mw capacity, Makhija said.

In 2002, the Hong Kong-based CLP Group had entered India by acquiring stake in the 655-Mw gas-powered Paguthan Combined Cycle Power Plant (formerly called Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation) in Bharuch, Gujarat. Its foray into the country's wind power sector was marked by a 50.4-Mw project in Khandke, Maharashtra.