Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) said it has secured the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the 2,400 MW gas-based combined cycle power project being set up at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh, from group company, Reliance Power.

The contract value is Rs 7,200 crore. The power generation from the plant is scheduled by end 2011.

RInfra said orders have been placed for the gas and steam turbine with General Electric, USA and other major contracts had been awarded to domestic and international companies.

The project was at the gas-rich belt at Samalkot and is the largest gas-based power plant to be set up in the country.

The Samalkot EPC contract is the third power project for RInfra from Reliance Power, the others being the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Madhya Pradesh and Butibouri in Maharashtra.

Mr Lalit Jalan, CEO, Reliance Infrastructure, said: “RInfra's EPC arm, with an order book of Rs 30,700 crore, is among the top players in the EPC space. Currently, more than 25,000 workers are working at various power project sites.”

At a recent meeting, Mr J.P. Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Power, replying to queries on whether gas supply to the project was assured, said the Ministerial group had said that allocation would be made and the project had been inspected at its instance for the progress made by the relevant authorities. He also pointed out that corporate planning always factor in contingencies.

Shares of Reliance Infra on BSE were up 1.16 per cent at Rs 653 on Thursday.