6 cos submit bids for power transmission proj worth Rs 3,662cr

Six companies, including Power Grid Corp, Adani Power and Sterlite Grid, have submitted financial bids for three power transmission projects worth Rs 3,662 crore.
Jindal Power Ltd, Essel and KPTL are the other three players that submitted bids for three transmission projects -- Sipat, Chhattisgarh (A) and Chhattisgarh (B).
Besides these projects, bids for the fourth transmission project at Maheswaram have been invited on July 3.
"Six firms have submitted request for proposal (RFP) for three power transmission projects worth Rs 3,662 crore as part of government's plan to auction transmission projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore via a competitive bidding process," a source said.

For Chhattisgarh (A) power transmission project worth Rs 823 crore, only two companies -- Sterlite Grid and Adani Power -- submitted bids out of eight qualified bidders, the source said.
The qualified bidders for this project were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Essel, Sterlite Grid Ltd (SGL), Adani Power, Jindal Power Ltd (JPL), Isolux and Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL).

For the Rs 1,976-crore Chhattisgarh (B) project, of eight qualified bidders, five submitted bids. The bidders for this project are PGCIL, Adani Power, SGL, Essel and KPTL. Qualified bidders for the Chhattisgarh (B) project were PGCIL, L&T, Essel, SGL, JPL, Adani, Isolux and KPTL.

The Sipat power transmission project worth Rs 863 crore received financial bids from five bidders -- PGCIL, Adani Power, JPL, SGL and KPTL. It had six technically qualified bidder -- PGCIL, L&T, Essel, SGL, JPL, Adani, Isolux and KPTL.
L&T did not bid in any of the three projects for which it was qualified to participate, while the European infra major Isolux chose not to participate in any of the two projects for which it was technically qualified to bid.
For the fourth power transmission project Maheshwaram, worth Rs 396 crore, bids will be submitted on July 3. Technically qualified bidders for this project are PGCIL, Essel, SGL, KPTL, CLP Power and a consortium of Tata and Tata Realty.

The tenders of Sipat, Chhattisgarh (A) and Chhattisgarh (B) projects are being handled by state-run Power Finance Corporation while the Maheshwaram project is being handled by state-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).
On just two companies bidding for Chhattisgarh (A), the source said it is most challenging project in the region with huge power generation capacity and hence complex network of transmission.
The developer for this project will cross existing 70 transmission lines in the region, which requires a high level of expertise and technology with least disturbance to power consumers. Besides, keeping in check accidents and completing the project in a time bound manner are challenging, the source added.