The Hindu Business Line : Reliance proposes mega power plant in Kakinada

THE Reliance group has come up with a proposal to locate a mega gas-based power plant at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh taking advantage of the gas find in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

The Principal Secretary of Energy, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Mr D.K. Panwar, said that a team from Reliance is on a visit to Andhra Pradesh and has come up with a proposal to locate a 1,500-2000 MW gas-based power plant at Kakinada, which could be upscaled to 8,000 MW.

The team, which met senior officials, also expressed its intention to look into the possibility of partnering in distribution and transmission network.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Panwar said the Reliance team met the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy, and expressed its intention to set up a power plant in the region as it could take advantage of the huge gas find announced by the company and also serve other downstream industries in the region through a gas pipeline and possible domestic gas supply.

"This power project would in all probability be like the one the company announced to locate in Uttar Pradesh. Kakinada was chosen as it was felt that this would serve as the ideal location for a mega power project. Though no firm commitment about the extent of investments were made, the company team lead by Mr Madhava Rao and Mr J.P. Chalasani said they were keen on the project," he said.

The State Government welcomed the idea and promised to extend all support as per the existing policy framework. This would in all possibility have similar production cost of about Rs 2 a unit, as is the case with the Dadri power plant.

Mr Panwar said that since the Reliance gas is slated for production by the end of 2006 or early 2007 and is expected to be distributed to various parts of the country through a gas grid, the company was keen to locate three major gas projects one each in north, west and the southern regions. Kakinada was cited as an ideal location in the south.

"We also discussed the possibility of Reliance supplying gas to some other power projects in the region, which includes its own power plant BSES, which is currently running with just about 80 per cent gas allocation. Some other projects too require gas and Reliance would possibly be able to offer to them," he explained.

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