Coal India looking for JV partner in 1,600MW Thermal power project development
Coal India has resumed hunt for a joint venture partner for its maiden 1,600 mw thermal power project it plans to set up in Odisha through a special purpose vehicle, Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL).
Under the revised plan, it would offer a lesser 51% stake from the earlier 74% in the SPV to the partner who would be selected through a tariff-based international competitive bidding process to be initiated soon.
CIL would now hold a 49% stake in the SPV through its subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL).
“A notice for pre-request for qualification has just been floated and a meeting of the prospective bidders would be held on December 11,” an official of MCL told DNA.
The minimum net worth criteria for prospective bidders have been fixed at Rs2,000 crore with an annual turnover of Rs1,920 crore.
The bidders must have prior experience of building thermal power projects. MCL is overseeing the selection process for the JV partner in the SPV.
The 2×800 mw pit-head super critical power plant has been planned at the Basundhara-Garjanbahal coal mines area of Sundergarh district in order to access customers near the mine where there are plans to produce about 20 million tonne of non-coking coal by 2017.
In case MBPL decides to raise debt, the project would be financed through debt and equity in the maximum ratio of 70:30, the project document said.
The JV partner would have to secure the debt for the project.
“MCL would have the right to nominate and appoint two nominee directors on the Board of the SPV out of which one of the directors would be appointed as the chairman. The JV partner shall have the right to nominate and appoint two nominee directors out of which one of the directors would be appointed as the MD,” the document said.
Power purchase agreement would be entered between MCL and MBPL for 25 years with most of the power to be sold to the Odisha government.When the RFQ was floated about a year ago, domestic firms including NTPC, CESC, Adani, GMR, GVK, Lanco Infratech, and also foreign players such as Israel Electric Corp and AES had expressed interest.
