IVRCL bets on gas-based power plant

 Hyderabad-based IVRCL Group is all set to foray into gas-based power generation. The power plants will be set up under its group firm IVRCL Assets and Holdings Ltd.“For IVRCL, small is cute. When everybody is going for ultra mega projects, we want to focus on easy-to-implement small projects. We are looking at setting up small gas-based power plants with a capacity of 100 MW each in the next two years,” Mr E. Sudhir Reddy, the chairman of IVRCL Group, told this correspondent.

The company, Mr Reddy said, will soon apply for gas allocation. “To begin with, we would like to set up two gas-based power plants,” the chairman said. The preferred location for setting up the power generation facility is its home state Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Explaining the rationale for opting for smaller power projects, Mr Reddy said that large projects face difficulty in getting required sanction and funding.Any project with a capacity of more than 500 MW needs to be cleared by the central government, while the state government is empowered to sanction small projects below500 MW.

Mr Reddy feels that the sanctioning of the project at the local will help the company in completing the project faster. Apart from the gas-based power plants, the group is looking at setting up hydropower plants of similar capacities.