New Delhi, Feb 01: Tata group company North Delhi Power on Sunday said it would invest over Rs 1,200 crore in the next three years to strengthen power distribution network in the capital.
"We plan to invest Rs 1250 crore over the next three years to ramp up our distribution network," NDPL chief executive Anil Sardana said.
The company proposes a capital investment of Rs 400 crore during the current year with the remaining Rs 850 crore set aside for investment during 2004-07, he added.
NDPL has already tied up funds roping in agencies like Power Finance Corporation and Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation for raising Rs 400 crore.
Besides, funds from government's Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme would also be accessed to finance the capital investment.
About Rs 160 crore is likely to be made available from APDRP corpus while another Rs 160 crore would be availed during the second tranche.
Sardana said the investments would be largely devoted to reducing aggregate technical and commercial losses with the company proposing to set aside Rs 400 crore exclusively for this purpose.
NDPL has also chalked out three other areas - building infrastructure, increasing reliability and expanding customer base - for future investments.
NDPL lapped up north and north-west distribution circle in the capital in July 2002 following privatisation of distribution business by Delhi government.
Tata's own 51 per cent stake in the circle with the Delhi government holding the remaining 49 per cent. The other two circles went to Reliance group company BSES.
Tata Power, the group's power venture and India's largest private power producer, has also drawn up plans to establish a 1000 MW power project in the capital.
However, following reluctance shown by the government in allotting land for the project, the company is considering shifting the same to an alternative location around the capital.
Bureau Report