Mumbai: ADA Group firm Reliance Energy and GMR Infrastructure are among the nine firms short listed for the bidding process to acquire Singapore's Tuas Power, one of the three power firms state investor Temasek has put on the block.

Tata Power, India's largest private sector power generator, however, has been left out in the race.

REL and GMR would compete with international firms, including Japan's Marubeni, China Light and Power, and HongKong Electric, Malaysia's Tanjong and Huaneng Power, Hong Kong-based One Energy JV and Spain's Union Fenosa for the acquisition of Tuas Power.

Tuas Power is estimated to be valued at around $2 billion.

"GMR and REL are two Indian companies which have qualified in the indicative bidding stage of the two-step process. The second stage of submitting binding bids is scheduled to be held in March," sources said.

Tuas will be the first of three power generators that Temasek Holdings hopes to sell by June 2009.

Singapore is in the process of reforming its power sector by breaking up the monopoly into separate companies active in power generation, transmission and retail.

Although Singapore is not as lucrative for power firms as the emerging economies like China and India, it offers investors steady profits.

Singapore's state-controlled conglomerates, Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Industries, were also expected to bid. Keppel, however, did not take part in the bidding for Tuas.

Tuas Power's assets include oil-fired plants with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MW) as well as 1,470 MW in gas-fired electricity plants. The company reported a net profit of $123 million for the year ended March 2007.

The other two power companies that Temasek plans to sell are the much older PowerSeraya and Senoko, which have capacities of 3,100 MW and 3,300 MW respectively.