10 Companies Bid For Yamunanagar Power Project

Ten companies, including Reliance Industries, Bechtel, Tatas and Consolidated Electric Power of Asia (CEPA), have bid for the 500 mw Yamuna Nagar thermal power project in Haryana.

The bids, which were put in late last week, also included those from L&T, BSES, the GVK group, Jindal Strips, SITHE Engineering and PSEG India Limited.

While Reliance, Bechtel, Tata, CEPA, L&T and PSEG India Limited have bid alone, BSES, GVK, Jindal and SITHE Engineering have tied up with utility companies for the project.

For CEPA, after the 4000 MW Hirma project in Orissa, this is the second project that the company has bid to execute in the country.

BSES, in its bid, proposes to tie up with equipment supplier BHEL. BSES will hold 90 per cent equity in the company.

The GVK group has tied up with equipment major ABB in which it proposes to hold 51 per cent of the equity.

The Jindal group plans to tie up with US-based CPI Western Power with the Jindals holding 60 per cent of the stake.

SITHE Engineering proposes a join venture between the Korean Hyundai Engineering and Construction and SITHE Limited.

The Haryana government has, however, not accepted the bid from Bhagat Infrastructure and Power as its joint venture partner, IEC Engineering Limited of Israel, could not respond for the bid in time. Sources said that IEC is one of Israeli tycoon Isenberg's group companies that had previously signed an MoU with the Haryana government for executing the Yamunagar project.

Isenberg, however, could not kick-off the project as the cost estimated by group was found to be too high for the Haryana government to absorb.

Negotiations on the project were on for over five years. However, after Isenberg's death, the Haryana government decided to issue global tenders.

The Yamuna Nagar project had been cleared in 1984 by the Centre. Since the state government did not have the required funds, the project was given to NTPC.

Although NTPC started construction at the site, the state government decided to award the project to a private party after the power sector was liberalised in 1992.