JSW Energy to start 10 power units by FY11

Power utility JSW Energy's(JSWE.BO) four Maharashtra power units and six Rajasthan ones are expected to be operational by March 2011, a senior official said on Friday.One of the four Maharashtra units, of 300 megawatts capacity each, is expected to be operational by July-end, Vice Chairman N.K. Jain told reporters at a press conference to discuss the firm's first quarter earnings.

To augment raw material supplies, the firm, which had acquired a majority stake in South African Coal Mining Holding Ltd in April, is on the lookout for more coal mines, Jain said."We are more keen on getting operating mines which will yield immediate coal to us," Chief Financial Officer Pramod Menon said.Overall JSW Energy will require 6 million tonnes of coal per annum when all the projects start functioning.At present JSW Energy has 995 MW of operational capacity and 2145 MW is under construction. By 2015, it aims to generate 11,390 MW.

On Friday, the firm reported net profit surged to nearly 3 billion rupees in the June quarter as sales rose more than three times to 9.3 billion rupees on a significant jump in generation capacity after it commissioned its 600 megawatt unit in FY10.Consolidated net generation was 1.8 billion units for April-June, it added.The company sells 60 percent of output as merchant power and the rest as long-term contracts.NEW PROJECTSJSW Energy is evaluating three hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim and will take one quarter to complete the due diligence. The proposed projects are in the range of 80-240 megawatts, Jain said.

The firm is already in the process of setting up a 240 MW hydropower plant at Kutehr, Himachal Pradesh and is also evaluating plans to put up gas-based power plant to assure a good mix of fuel resources.

During the quarter, overall thermal power generation for the country grew at just 4.4 percent on year, but gas-based power grew 18.53 percent, Central Electricity Authority data showed.