CESC to revive abandoned Balagarh power project in West Bengal
09 May 2012
CESC Ltd, the R P Sanjiv Goenka flagship company, will revive the abandoned Balagarh power project in West Bengal at an investment of Rs10,500 crore, while it mulls an initial public offering (IPO) for Haldia Energy Ltd (HEL), the newly-formed holding company of some of the group's upcoming power plants.
"We had a discussion with the state government recently in this regard. Following it, the board has cleared the Balagarh project to set up three super-critical power projects of 660 MW each," CESC Vice-Chairman Sanjiv Goenka told reporters.
"The state government has promised us coal linkage for the project," Goenka said, adding, the total investment for the project will be about Rs10,500 crore.
Conceived in the early 90s, the stalled power plant will be built in three phases of 660 MW each. Goenka said the company would prefer a captive coal block, but a linkage to other mines was also welcome. ''It does not matter as long as we have access to coal.''
The company, which produces around 1,200 MW in Bengal, has a 997-acre freehold land at Balagarh in Hooghly district. The project is yet to get an environmental clearance from the centre.
The company is also planning to raise about Rs1,000 crore from private equity players for three projects being undertaken by HEL.