Adani Power is planning to set up a 10,000-MW thermal power plant in the Kutch region of Gujarat and the bulk of the electricity to be produced from it is likely to be exported to Pakistan.
The company, a part of the $8.7-billion Adani Group, is arguably the country?s leading private sector thermal power producer with a current capacity of 8,520 MW. The ports-to-power group has plans to ramp up electricity production by over 10,000 MW by this financial year, other that the Kutch greenfield project. It is currently developing six projects in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
According to a source, Adani Power has discussed the proposal of the Kutch project with the UPA-II government, but there was not much progress. The company hopes implement the proposal during the incoming NDA regime as a coal-based project in phases beginning with 3,300 MW and ramp it up to 10,000 MW within the next five years, he said. Since Gujarat is considered to be a power surplus state, Adani Power is learnt to have decided to sell the electricity to Pakistan. An Adani Group spokesperson did not reply to an e-mailed questionnaire, but called up to say ?the company has no comments to offer.?
While the initial investment would be around Rs 13,000 crore, for ramping up the capacity to 10,000 MW a total of Rs 40,000 crore would be required, according to the source. The project is likely to be implemented by Kutch Power Generation Company Limited (KPGCL), a Adani Power subsidiary. KPGCL would be responsible for generation, evacuation and transmission of electricity. The company is learnt to have acquired land at Bhadreshwar in Kutch for the project, according to sources.
Adani Power has reported a net profit of Rs 2,529 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, against a net loss of Rs 585.52 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. According to a company statement, its consolidated EBIDTA has risen to Rs 4859 crore in FY14, which is an increase of 322 per cent.
Last week the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had slapped a Rs 5,500-crore show cause notice on the Adani Group for alleged over-valuation of capital equipment imports. The notices were served to Adani Power Maharashtra, Adani Power Rajasthan, Maharashtra Eastern Grid Power Transmission Company-and a contractor to the last entity. Also last week the firm announced purchase of the Dhamra Port in Orissa.
