Jindal Steel & Power to add 1000 MW this fiscal - Will incur capex of Rs 50 billion on power projects this fiscal

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) expects to increase its power generation capacity by 1000 MW to 2,700 MW by the end of the current financial year.At present, JSPL has a generation capacity of 755 MW, while its subsidiary Jindal Power Ltd (JPL) produces 1,000 MW. JPL, which accounted for a fourth of JSPL's turnover of Rs 13,111 crore in the year ended March 2011, has in the pipeline an 11-fold expansion plan with a total capacity of 11,480 MW by fiscal 2020.The parent, JSPL, expects to commission 5 units of 135 MW each at Angul and two units of 135 MW each at Chattisgarh by the year-end, said Mr Sushil Maroo, Director and Group CFO.

JPL is carrying out a brownfield expansion of its Tanmar project in Chattisgarh by setting up a 2400 MW plant at an estimated cost of Rs 13,410 crore. The project is likely to be operational by 2013-14.

Further, JPL is also setting up a 1320 MW power project at Jharkhand at an estimated cost of Rs 7,224 crore. The company is in the process of tying up debt amounting to Rs 5,057 crore. JPL expects to arrange the equity component of Rs 2,167 crore through internal accruals or through the proposed initial public offer. JPL is also setting up another 660 MW plant at Dumka in Jharkhand at a project cost of Rs 3,666 crore.In the current financial year, JSPL plans to incur a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore towards its power projects.

However, JPL is also seeking to diversify from coal-based power projects and has planned a mega push in the renewable arena. This includes three hydroelectric projects with a capacity of 6100 MW in Arunachal Pradesh. Besides, the company is also implementing three thermal projects in Chattisgarh and Jharkhand with a total capacity of 4380 MW.In Arunachal, the company has planned two units of 800 MW projects in the Subansiri Middle, whereas it is implementing a 4,000 MW plant at Etalin and 500 MW plant at Attunuli.

“We are currently conducting the hydrological and geological studies for these hydro projects. We expect to come out with a detailed project report (DPR) for these projects in 12-18 months once the studies are complete,” Mr Maroo said.At an estimated cost of Rs 7 crore per MW, the company would invest a total of Rs 42,000 crore for the hydro projects, he added. The proposed hydro projects would become operational over the next six to nine years between 2017 and 2020.