GVK Inds to produce 2100 Mw in five years

Hyderabad-based GVK Industries, which is focusing on power generation, would be producing 2,100 Mw of power in the country five years down the line. Its total investment in the power sector following the execution of the three power projects on hand will be over Rs 10,300 crore.

The company is establishing two hydro power plants of 330 Mw and 370 Mw in Uttaranchal and a coal-based 500 Mw plant in Punjab. The three new power projects involve an investment of Rs 6,970 crore.

GVK is currently operating three gas-based power plants in Andhra Pradesh with a combined capacity of 900 Mw. These projects have been set up at a cost of Rs 3,345 crore.

In the first week of May, the company is starting the construction work on the Rs 1,970-crore Alaknanda Hydro Power Corporation Ltd, which has been set up to build a 330-Mw hydel project near Srinagar in the Pauri district of Uttaranchal. GVK has purchased the majority stake in Alaknanda from Tata Power, which in turn had bought it from Synergy in 2003.

"The contract for construction of a diversion tunnel of the project has been awarded even while the company is in the process of calling for international bids for an EPC contractor to execute the project. The EPC contractor will be finalised in a couple of months," G V Krishna Reddy, chairman and managing director of GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited, told Business Standard, adding that work on the Rs 10-crore tunnel would be commenced early next month.

He, however, said that the works on the Goriganga Hydro Power Private Ltd, set up to build another hydel power project in Uttaranchal, would commence a couple of years later. The company currently is in the process of preparing an environmental report of the 370 Mw project, which is estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore.

On the other hand, GVK is in the process of entering into a power purchase agreement with the Punjab government with regard to its 500 Mw coal-based power project.

The state government has already identified 1,000 acres of land sought by the company for coal mining. This project also involves an investment of Rs 2,500 crore. "This is the only power project in the country, which will have a captive coal mine," Reddy said.