NEW DELHI: A number of private sector majors such as the Tatas, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Essar and Reliance Energy are among the dozen companies in the fray for developing the country's first fully independent private power transmission lines in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

In November last year, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PowerGrid), the state-owned transmission major, had invited bids for developing independent grid lines associated with the western region grid strengthening scheme. The selection of the private company for implementing the two projects is to be done by June this year so as to complete the task by 2009 at a cost of about Rs. 1,500 crore.

Revealing this to newspersons here, the PowerGrid Chairman and Managing Director, R. P. Singh, said: "Tata Power, Reliance, Essar Power, Larsen & Toubro, GMR group, Kalptaru Power, Gammon India and Jyothi Structures, China Light & Power and four Spanish companies, including Isolex Wat and Abengoa, are in the fray for these projects."

Although 28 bid documents were purchased, a total of 12 companies participated in the pre-bid conference for each of these two projects. "We will have another pre-bid conference on April 18 and the bids will be opened in June this year," Mr. Singh said.

Of the two projects, one is for building sub-stations and grid lines in southern Maharashtra at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore, and the other is for undertaking similar work in Gujarat at an investment of about Rs. 500 crore. When implemented, these two would be the country's maiden transmission lines built entirely by private players.

The two projects are part of PowerGrid's Rs. 4,700-crore western grid scheme which ran into dispute last year when the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Energy approached the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for a licence to set up the power transmission lines on its own.

Meanwhile, PowerGrid is planning to come out with an initial public offering (IPO) of shares by the end of this year. "We are looking at an IPO. We think it will definitely be before the end of 2006," Mr. Singh said. The IPO could be on the lines of other power companies such as NTPC and Power Finance Corporation (PFC), he said.

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