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M. Ramesh

Chennai , July 6

BHARAT Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has submitted a bid for putting up a 400-MW power plant in Sudan, the public sector power equipment manufacturer's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr A.K. Puri, told Business Line in Tiruchi recently. Mr Puri did not want to disclose the value of the contract because the project is yet to be bagged. However, the value can be deduced to be around Rs 1,000 crore from the fact that BHEL is putting up a 600-MW plant in Libya whose value is about Rs 1,400 crore.

Mr Puri denied what this newspaper had learnt from sources in Government — that the Government is concerned about increasing "exposure" to Sudan. He said that the Government was in fact facilitating funding of the project through Exim Bank of India.

It may be remembered that ONGC, through its overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, has bought stake in an oil field and is also interested in building a refinery and a 740-km long pipeline. ONGC's investments in Sudan could be upwards of $1 billion.

It is understood that Sudan is keen on Indian participation in the project. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told this newspaper that the Sudanese Finance Minister is likely to visit India in the near future and the power project could be wangled then.

BHEL is one of the several Indian companies that have followed ONGC's steps into Sudan, to grab a piece of the conflict-ridden country's post-war reconstruction cake. These companies began to look at Sudan closely from early 2004, as the probability of a peace agreement between Sudan's Arab-dominated regime and the black Southern rebels increased. The peace agreement, which was finally signed on January 9 this year, has rejuvenated Indian companies' interest in Sudan.

Last November, the Sudan Railway Corp approved a proposal submitted by Indian Railways' subsidiary, Ircon International Ltd, to construct new infrastructure parallel to the existing line from Haiya Junction to Port Sudan, a distance of 203 km.

Apart from Ircon, some Indian companies such as L&T and Hyderabad-based construction major, PCL Corp, have tied up to build a 400-km road in Sudan.

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