By IANS
Bangalore : The Karnataka government late Tuesday allowed the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to build a 800 MW gas-based power plant in Bidar district at a cost of Rs.24 billion.
“The state high-level committee on investments, headed by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, approved the Reliance proposal to set up the power plant at an estimated cost of Rs.24 billion,” state Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu told reporters after the meeting.
The plant, to come up on 200 acres of land in at Humnabad, in Bidar, about 700 km from here, will be Reliance’s first major investment foray in the state. The modalities, including the land acquisition process, are being worked out.
“Reliance has also expressed interest in setting up a 1,000 MW thermal power station in the state. To meet the growing energy requirements, we have decided to permit private firms to set up three thermal power projects of 1,000 MW each in Mysore, Belgaum and Gulbarga districts.
“Besides Reliance, six more firms — Lanco group, Jindal Power, Orissa Power Corporation, Torrent Power and Nagarjuna Fertilisers & Chemicals have submitted competitive bids for these projects,” Naidu disclosed.
The committee also permitted the state-run Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) to build two thermal power projects of 1,000 MW and 1,500 MW in Raichur and Bellary districts of north Karnataka.
“KPCL, which operates the Raichur thermal power station (RTPS) and the Bellary thermal power station (BRPS), has been entrusted with the task of commissioning the two projects at a combined cost of Rs.105 billion,” Naidu pointed out.
Besides thermal projects, KPCL also operates four major hydel power stations and a wind power farm, with an installed capacity of close to 5,000 MW per annum.