Power producer THDC to roll out Rs 500 bn expansion plan

Uttarakhand-based THDC India Ltd (formerly Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation), long considered a minor player in the electricity generation field, is on a roll with a Rs 400-500 billion plan to raise capacity to over 40,000 MW by straddling thermal, pump storage, wind and solar generation as well as captive coal mining in the next two to three years. The state-run company is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) two years from now and a trading licence to gain operational flexibility, chairman Rajeev Vishnoi said. “THDC started in 1989 with the Tehri hydel plant. It was too big for a new company. We faced many issues. We focused on completing the plant and developing expertise. No one talked about expansion then. Now that we have established our competence and have the expertise, it is natural to expand for future growth,” Vishnoi told a newspaper. The company expects to commission its first thermal project at Khurja in Uttar Pradesh early next year. But it will launch the captive coal mine - Amelia in Madhya Pradesh - this year. “There is big demand for coal. The government has allowed captive miners to sell surplus in the market,” Vishnoi said. THDC is poised to notch up another milestone in the current financial year by commissioning the world’s largest pump storage power plant in Tehri.See also: Tangedco invites bids for short-term power purchase agreementsAyodhya to be without overhead power cables by 2023