The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group is in the advanced stages of acquiring a power project.
When contacted Chairman Sanjiv Goenka confirmed the news but said that he was not in a position to say anything further on this.
“We will go forward only if, during the process of due diligence, we find everything to be right,” he said.
Sources familiar with the development told The Hindu that several power projects and companies were in the marketplace and lenders put value on companies with a track record of performance. However, critical considerations would be availability of fuel and land.
The news of the group’s plans to acquire more power projects comes a day after the first such acquisition — Dhariwal Infrastructure Ltd. (DIL) — by group flagship CESC was synchronised. Located in Chandrapura in Maharashtra, DIL is a 2x300 MW coal-fired thermal power project which was acquired in 2009.
Power purchase agreement
“Yes, Chandrapura marks our pan-India presence in power generation and we are hopeful of doing more,” Mr. Goenka said. The first unit of Chandrapura was synchronised on Wednesday and work was on in full swing on the second unit. The line for hooking up the power with the national network is under construction and is expected to be ready soon.
He said that buyers had been found for the first 270 MW power of the first unit. A power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Distribution Company for 100 MW of supply.
Greenfield unit
CESC, which has a capacity of 1,225 MW through its three stations in West Bengal, is keen to add another 7,000 MW to its total generation capacity over the next decade.
It is at present implementing a 2x300 MW greenfield unit in West Bengal’s Haldia industrial town. Projects are also on the anvil in Bihar and Odisha. The company has also acquired two hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh, which are now under implementation.
