Tata Power to commission Maithon Power project by 2009-end

Mumbai, Sep 27 (UNI) Tata Power Company today said it will commission the first unit of its 1,000-Mega Watt Maithon power project in Jharkand by the end of 2009 and the second unit by mid-2010.

The company expects to achieve financial closure for the project by mid-2007, a company statement said.

The ground breaking ceremony for Maithon Power project - a joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation - was conducted on September 27, 2006 at the hands of Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the presence of Jharkand Chief Minister Madhu Koda at Maithon site.

The 1,000 MW Right Bank Thermal Power Project is the first initiative in public partnership in the area of generation. This follows similar successful, pioneering partnership initiatives of the company with the public sector in transmission and distribution through Powerlinks (Tata Transmission project) and NDPL (distribution in Delhi), marking it out as the only private sector entity to lead the way in public-private JVs in all core areas of the power sector.

Power from the Maithon Project is to be exported to power deficit western and northern states and for meeting the requirements of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

The Company had earlier signed the Shareholders Agreement with DVC for the 1,000 MW project being developed by Maithon Power Ltd. The company has 74 per cent equity in the venture, with the Government of India established Damodar Valley Corporation holding 26 per cent equity. The estimated capital cost of the project is around Rs 3,800 crore and will be funded through a 70:30 debt to equity ratio. The company will contribute around Rs 840 crore to the equity corpus, with DVC contributing about Rs 300 crore, the statement added.

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