Sterlite gets letter of intent for transmission ventures

Sterlite Technologies Ltd announced it has received the letter of intent for the acquisition of two transmission units floated by PFC Consulting Ltd for transmission system strengthening in the Western region.

The two firms — Jabalpur Transmission Company Ltd and Bhopal-Dhule Transmission Company Ltd — were created as special purpose vehicles by PFC Consulting, an arm of state-owned lender Power Finance Corporation Ltd that conducted the tariff-based bidding process for the projects.

Sterlite Transmission Projects, a subsidiary of Sterlite Technologies, had bagged the projects that were awarded through the competitive bidding route after having quoted the lowest tariff amid competition from eight other players. Others in the fray for the Rs 2,900-crore transmission scheme included Lanco, Larsen & Toubro, Gammon and Reliance Power.

The RfP (request for proposal) or the financial bids for the project entailing ‘system strengthening for the western region' were opened on January 28 and entails the setting up of key transmission links across three western States.

The project, which spans the three States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, involves the construction of four major transmission lines. These include the 330-km Jabalpur-Bhopal 765 kV (kilo Volt) link, the 250-km Dhule-Vadodara 765kV line and the 180- km Bhopal-Indore 765 kV link, besides the construction of two 765/400 kV sub-stations at Bhopal and Dhule.

The process of award of new transmission projects through the competitive bidding route is slated to pick up momentum in the light of a new regime coming into place from January 5, which requires both generation and transmission projects to shift to a tariff-based competitive bidding regime.

Prior to the award of the latest project, Sterlite Transmission, a subsidiary of Vedanta Group firm Sterlite Technologies Ltd, had bagged a Rs 1,720-crore project entailing ‘system strengthening for western region and northern region' after having quoted the lowest annual levelised transmission charge of Rs 142.13 crore. The Letter of Intent to Sterlite Transmission was issued on January 19. The transmission scheme entailing the ‘System Strengthening for Western Region and Northern Region' involves the establishment of a 765KV double circuit line from Dharamjaygarh to Jabalpur and a 765KV single circuit line from Jabalpur to Bina (250 km).

The company had, earlier last year, got the letter of intent for an ‘East-North interconnection' transmission package costing about Rs 800 crore under a similar tariff-based bidding process conducted by PFC.