OPG Power to invest Rs 3000 cr for expansion in India

NEW DELHI, July 19: OPG Power Ventures PLC, a leading power generation company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is all set to expand its presence in India with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore.

With this investment, OPG plans to increase its existing generation capacity to 750 MW by 2014. For this, the company will set up new power plants—one 77MW Thermal Power Plant in Chennai, one 80 MW Thermal Power plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a 160MW (80×2) Thermal Power plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and a 300MW (150×2) Thermal Power plant in Kutch, Gujarat. These projects are all coal-based and will start generating power by 2014.

Commenting on the expansion plans, company CEO Arvind Gupta said, “In recent years, India’s energy consumption has grown at the fastest rate in the world due to rising population and economic development. This growth leads to huge demand and supply gap and gives us a huge opportunity to grow our business.

“India is a resourceful country in terms of exhaustible and renewables. Since inception, we have been able to establish ourselves as a trustworthy name in the power sector. We have been growing with each year and hope to continue this growth to achieve

continued success.”

A company statement said as an efficient, low-cost producer and power supplier to industrial sector, OPG Power is focusing on the Indian market through non-traditional routes via Group captive and merchant markets.

Currently, OPG is a producer of Group Captive Thermal Power in India with an existing operating capacity of 112 MW generated by its three existing power plants. Located in the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, these plants are one coal-fired, one gas-fired and the third was a waste heat recovery plant.

This capacity is being expanded by an additional unit of 77 MW, which will start generating power shortly.

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