The Hindu Business Line : GMR group bags Holi Bajoli hydro electric project

Snapshot
About 18 bidders had pitched for the project for the request for qualification floated by the HP State Electricity Board.
After financial closure the project is expected to go into commercial operations in 2014.
The beneficiary States from the project include Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and the Union territory of Delhi

Our Bureau

Bangalore, June 29 The GMR group has won the bid for implementing the 180-mega watt (MW) Holi Bajoli Hydro Electric Project, across the river Ravi in Himachal Pradesh.

GMR, when contacted, declined to comment on the development. “It is not company policy to comment on projects under development” they said.

But industry sources said the project was won against stiff competition from qualified bidders that included, Reliance Energy, Jaiprakash Hydropower Ltd, Lanco, Moser-Baer India, Torrent-Gammon Consortium, and engineering major Larsen and Toubro Ltd.

About 18 bidders had pitched for the project for the request for qualification floated by the HP State Electricity Board.

Only 13 bidders were technically qualified for the request for proposal.

Once financial closure is completed the project is expected to go into commercial operations in 2014, the sources said.

The project is a run of the river project in HP’s Chamba district. The tentative project cost is estimated at Rs 1,050 crore. A final estimate would be made only after finalisation of the detailed project report, the sources added.

The sources said based on the current flow pattern of the river, the generation from the project would at least 664 million units a year.

Under the current terms of the project bids, the sources said, that the GMR group would have a concession of 40 years from the date of commercial operations.

Free power to Himachal

The beneficiary States from the project include Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and the Union territory of Delhi. Besides, the terms also specify Himachal Pradesh would be allotted free power from the project to the extent of 12 per cent of the generation for the first 12 years.

This would increase to 18 per cent between 13 and 30 years. For the last 10 years, the free power allocation to HP would go up to 30 per cent.

Funding for the project is likely to be done on a debt equity ratio of 80:20 basis, the sources said. This is the funding norm prescribed by the Ministry of Power.

This would mean that GMR would have to bring in at least Rs 210 crore as equity. The remaining Rs 840 crore would comprise the debt component of the project finance.

The tariffs are yet to be finalised. However, under current norms of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission investors are permitted to have tariffs on the basis of 14 per cent return on equity. Interest costs and variable costs are fully pass through items, implying that it could be loaded to tariffs.

For GMR group, this is the third hydro project under development. The others include the 140-MW Alakanand PowerProject in Uttarkhand and the 160-MW project in Talong, Arunachal Pradesh.