Hindustan Power Projects to commission thermal plants soon

Hindustan Power Projects Pvt Ltd (HPPPL), formerly known as Moser Baer Projects, has plans to commission its thermal power plants soon. The first unit of a 1,200 MW power plant in Madhya Pradesh is expected to be commissioned in July or August this year, according to Ratul Puri, Chairman , HPPPL. In 2016/17, he is expecting the first unit of another 1,320 MW plant to be commissioned.

Puri promoted HPPPL is independent of his father's company Moser Baer, one of the world's largest manufacturer of optical storage media like CDs and DVDs. He renamed his company in January this year. "We are a power company and wanted to look like one as well," he says. HPPPL has already made an investment of more than Rs 14,500 crore. "We have our coal secured from South Eastern Coal Fields Limited," says Puri. The power purchase agreement is already in place with state governments and Puri expects to commission his units as per schedule.

"We want to strike a balance between our solar or renewable portfolio and thermal power plants," says Puri. "We have roughly 320 MW of solar power plants installed." Around 90MW of the company's solar assets are overseas in Germany, Italy and Britain. HPPPL is generating Rs 550 crore annually from the sale of solar power.

HPPPL has also got all the clearances for two hydro projects in Himachal Pradesh (440 MW and 120 MW). The construction work will begin soon.