PowerLinks Transmission Ltd

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PowerLinks Transmission Ltd (Powerlinks), a joint venture between private utility Tata Power Company (TPC) and the Government of India owned Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), was established to implement the Tala Transmission Project (TTP) on a build-own-operate-transfer basis (BOOT) for 30 years. Tala Transmission Project involved installation of 1200 km transmission line from Siliguri, in West Bengal, to Mandaula, near New Delhi and the operation and maintenance of the transmission line for 30 years. The transmission line was built to transport power from the Tala hydroelectric plant in Bhutan to New Delhi, India and to carry surplus power from the eastern grid of India to the power deficit Northern grid. Tata Power Company Limited was selected to partner with PGCIL in TTP in December, 2001 through an international bidding process. Tata Power has a majority stake of 51% in Powerlinks and the balance is held by PGCIL. The only other pre-qualified bidder who participated in the TTP tender was National Grid of UK. Powerlinks achieved financial closure for TTP in January, 2004 for an estimated investment of Rs 1,220 crore (US$ 269 million). The debt equity ratio was 70:30 and the lenders financed 70 percent of the estimated project cost in the form of a non-recourse term loan. The lenders comprised of State Bank of India (US$ 35.3 million), Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (US$ 39.7 million), and International Finance Corporation (US$ 75 million). IFC’s loan had a maturity of 15 years and was denominated in Indian Rupees. The revenues for the project came from the transmission tariffs paid by Power Grid, which in turn collected it from the state electricity boards. The tariffs were regulated and calculated on a formula of cost base plus 16 percent return on equity plus 10 percent majoration factor. The project construction was completed in September 2006. http://www.powerlinkstransmission.com/ Have to check the capacity type - the news releases say 3000 MW. I think it should be MWH. http://ifcln001.worldbank.org/IFCExt/spiwebsite1.nsf/0/962aaa682c245b9385256d3900822cf9?OpenDocument