Govt to invest Rs 200 cr in power testing facility

The government today said it will invest Rs 200 crore for setting up an online high-power equipment testing facility in the western part of the country.

"We have decided to set up an online high-power facility at an investment of Rs 200 crore for testing transformers, switchgear and high current equipments," Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh told reporters here.

State-run companies -- DVC, NTPC, NHPC and PowerGrid -- has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for this facility.

Of total investment of Rs 200 crore, Rs 80 crore would be shared by the four state-run companies and Rs 10 crore as equity would come from the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), which would manage the facility on behalf of the SPV.

"The remaining investment of Rs 110 crore would come as loan from Power Finance Corporation," Ramesh added.

The investment consultant for the facility would be in place by February and it would be commissioned by June 2011.

Initially, it would be a testing facility for transformers with capacity of 400 KV and above. This would be used for testing switchgear and high current equipments over a period of time.

"It would be only facility of its kind in the world," the minister claimed.