States - Andhra Pradesh
AP Transco ties up funds for projects worth Rs 4,500 cr

BL Bureau

Hyderabad, April 9

Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (AP Transco) has achieved financial closure for a clutch of projects involving a total outlay of Rs 4,500 crore.

The closure is to be completed in four years.

Funds have been tied up with Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, a host of commercial banks and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (loan in two tranches), according to Mr Ajay Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, AP Transco.

At a press conference here on Friday, Mr Jain said that AP Transco's focus was on strengthening the evacuation infrastructure during next four years with an outlay of Rs 4,500 crore.

It proposes to add three 400 kV, 24 220 kV and 34 132 kV substations. The focus is also on creating additional infrastructure to support power evacuation and supply from new projects coming up in the State – in Krishnapatnam, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

In Hyderabad, energy demand is set to increase from the current 1,500 MW to about 5,000 MW in the next 10 years. The company plans to set up a new network with underground cabling.

The corporation closed the year 2009-10 with revenues of Rs 865 crore, reflecting an increase of Rs 61 crore over last year's Rs 803 crore. The corporation incurred expenditure of Rs 741 crore against last year's Rs 695 crore, and a profit before tax of Rs 124 crore (Rs 113 crore).

Referring to infrastructure in Hyderabad, Mr Jain said that Rs 1,265 crore had been raised – Rs 940 crore from JICA and Rs 325 crore from PFC.

During 2009-10, AP Transco handled 74,767 million units of energy, an increase of about 11 per cent over last year's 67,672 million units.