Sembcorp's Indian plant wins Bangladesh power supply tender

SINGAPORE/DHAKA (Reuters) - Singapore-listed Sembcorp Industries said its power plant in India won a tender to supply 250 megawatts of power to Bangladesh for 15 years.

Other bidders vying for the tender had included Adani Power Mundra Ltd, Hindustan Power, Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd, Meenakshi Energy Pvt Ltd and Odisha Power Generation Corp Ltd, industry insiders said.

Sembcorp's Gayatri Power Ltd power plant, wholly owned by Sembcorp Energy India Ltd, has received letters of intent from Bangladesh Power Development Board, the parent company said on Monday.

It will start supplying power to Bangladesh upon completion of procedural requirements and relevant government approvals, Sembcorp said.

Gayatri Power operates a 1,320-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Sembcorp India's combined thermal and renewable energy assets have a total capacity of 4.37 gigawatts.

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) invited bids in February for buying 250 MW power from Indian firms under a contract until Dec. 31, 2019 and under long-term contracts (to January 1, 2020, and to July 31, 2033), according to the tender document.

Supply will be through the Bohrompur Substation in Murshidabad, India and will be transferred to the Bheramara Grid Substation in Kushtia, Bangladesh.

Currently, Bangladesh imports 660 MW of electricity from neighbouring India.

The Sembcorp Group is also part of a consortium constructing the Sirajganj Unit 4 power project in Bangladesh, with a contracted capacity of 426 megawatts. It aims to achieve full commercial operations in 2019, Sembcorp said.

(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Susan Fenton)