AP allots land for NTPC-BHEL gear venture at Rs 100/acre

The Andhra Pradesh Government has approved the allotment of 753 acres at Mannavaram near Tirupati in Chittoor district for establishing a power equipment manufacturing base for the recently formed joint venture company, NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Ltd (NBPPL).

The Chittoor District Collectorate has cleared the allotment of the land in favour of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC), for a nominal value of Rs 100 an acre.

In a Government order issued recently, the land is meant for establishing an industrial park wherein the NTPC-BHEL combine will set up a greenfield manufacturing facility, with an investment outlay of about Rs 6,000 crore over five years. At full capacity, the plant would be able to annually produce power equipment worth 5,000 MW.

Inauguration:Mr B.S. Meena, Secretary, Heavy Industries, said that the detailed project report has been presented on Tuesday and the Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate the new facility within two weeks.The foundation stone for the proposed venture was to be laid by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, last year, but could not go through due to untimely death of former chief minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, in a chopper crash.

According to the Government order, the present block of land is located geographically contiguous to the lands which were alienated in the earlier allocation. The District Collector has also assured that the present chunk of land which has been allotted to APIIC, the nodal agency for implementation of industrial parks, is out of the forest cover.Mr C.P. Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, NBPPL told Business Line that till the new plant becomes operational, NBPPL would source the power equipment from other manufacturers globally, but do the erection and maintenance part itself.

“For a few years, we will source from different manufacturers. This is because the first phase of the new plant will only be ready by 2013, while the second phase will be operational by 2015,” he said.He added that the plant would provide direct employment to 6,000 people, while indirectly employing close to 25,000 more.Mr Singh said that NBBPL has a likely order book worth Rs 7,000 crore for 2010-11.This includes orders worth Rs 3,000 crore for NTPC's 500 MW Singrauli plant at Madhya Pradesh and another worth Rs 3,500 crore for a 600-MW plant at Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh.