By IANS
Lucknow : The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is seeking to double the capacity of Rosa Power project in Shahjahanpur district to 1,200 megawatt at an outlay of Rs.50 billion ($1.25 billion), company officials said Thursday.
The project, approved by the previous state government, was endorsed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday after a close scrutiny. The project, some 180 km from here, had been acquired from the Aditya Birla Group in November last year.
"The land set aside for Rosa suggests that with modern technology we can easily double the capacity. Since Uttar Pradesh is also facing acute power shortage, we have proposed to generate 1,200 megawatt now," the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
The original capacity was 600 megawatt at an outlay of Rs.26.41 billion.
"We have achieved financial closure. The regulatory authority has given its nod and the coal purchase pact – a rather unique one – has also been signed. So, we will stick to the timeframe and start production from March 2010."
The coal-based project has secured the central government's nod for long-term supply of coal, which would be transported from the Ashoka Mine in Jharkhand, an existing mine of Central Coalfields, a subsidiary of state-run Coal India.
The Railway Board has also approved the transportation agreement for coal.
Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation had acquired the land for the project that is being implemented by a subsidiary of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, named Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd.
"Since we have used Chinese technology in the past, we will opt for the same at Rosa as well."
The water for the project will be provided from Garrah river, which flows about a kilometre to the west of the site. The company has also signed the water use agreement with the state government, officials said.
The project will yield a fair amount of fly ash, which can be used as raw material in local brickfields and cement manufacturing units, they added.
The Aditya Birla Group, which initiated the project in the early 1990s, had formed a 51:49 joint venture with Britain-based PowerGen to execute the project.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group ranks among India's top five with a net worth of $6 billion, a market capitalisation of $22 billion and net assets in excess of $7 billion.
Its interests span communications, infrastructure development, entertainment, financial services and generation, transmission and distribution of power.