L&T quotes lowest bid for Rajpura thermal project

Larsen & Toubro Power Development is likely to bag the Rs 6,000-crore Rajpura thermal power project in Punjab as it has turned out to be the lowest bidder among others during the price bid opening that took place today.

"L&T has quoted lowest price bid for the 1,320-Mw Rajpura thermal power project," a senior official of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) told PTI today.

L&T quoted Rs 2.89 per unit as levelised tariff for the project.

Welspun Urja India remained second as it quoted a price bid of Rs 2.94 per unit as levelised tariff, which is little higher than L&T's price.

The letter of intent will be given to L&T next week after getting approval from the board of the PSEB.

"The board of PSEB is expected to give approval to the lowest price bid in this week and we are hoping that the letter of intent will be given to the successful bidder next week," he revealed.

Having invited bid for the second time, PSEB received technical and price bids from seven companies -- Larsen & Toubro Power Development, GMR Urja, Adani Power, Welspun Urja India, Lanco Infratech Power Project, Allinace Hydro Power and JSW Urja.

However, six companies except Alliance Hydro Power were declared as qualified bidders for the Rajpura thermal power project. Proposed to be awarded to developers on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis, the project would involve an investment ranging between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore.

The first unit of 660 Mw of Rajpura thermal power project is expected to start in the first quarter of 2014, while the second unit would start in next three months of operationalisation of the first unit.

Notably, the State Electricity Board, when it invited bids for the first time last year, managed to receive only a single financial bid from Lanco Infratech with a levelised tariff of Rs 3.38 per unit despite eight other companies including Reliance Power, Tata Power, Essar Power, were adjudged qualified bidders.

At that time, global downturn was cited as main reason behind staying away of companies from this project.

However, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) this year declined to give approval to the lone bid of Lanco Infratech, leading to reinvite of bids.