Thursday, November 08, 2007

NTPC, Railways form JV for 1,000MW Bihar plant

The country`s largest power generating company NTPC has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Indian Railways to set up a 1,000 MW power plant in Nabinagar in Bihar at a cost of Rs 1,605 crore.

A joint venture company - Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company - would be set up for the purpose with NTPC having 74% stake and the Railways having 26% stake.

NTPC would put in Rs 1,188 crore of capital and the Railways would invest Rs 417 crore in the Nabinagar plant. The plant is expected to commence operations after 30 months from receipt of approval of investment by both parties, which is likely to come by December-end.

As per the Cabinet approval, 90% of the power from Nabinagar plant will be supplied to railways and 10% to others and this will primarily be a captive power plant for the Railways.

The average cost of generation from this plant will be Rs 2.13 per unit. The railways expects to save up to Rs 600 crore annually after paying wheeling and transmission charges, reducing operating expenses by 1-2%. The average annual requirement of the Railways is 2,000 MW.

The Railways, at present, spends about Rs 5,700 crore a year towards electrical energy for traction and non-traction purposes.

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