Sampoor power project largest Indo-Lanka joint venture – Ashok Kantha

The Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha, said that the US$ 500 million Sampur Coal Power Station Joint Venture between the India National Thermal Power Corporation Limited and the Ceylon Electricity Board, entered into on Tuesday,was the largest undertaken by the two countries.

The CEB and NTPC are premier institutions in their respective countries and have come together as equal partners to form the Joint Venture Company,Kantha said adding that it took bilateral economic cooperation to a new level.

India’s Power Ministry Secretary P. Uma Shankar,speaking after the agreement was signed,said that the Joint Venture and Shareholder Agreement between CEB and NTPC was a ‘historic occasion’ and the project will have the full support of the Indian government. "It,would be completed by mid 2016.A,Joint Steering Committee (JSC) at the Secretary level from both sides has been constituted to oversee the implementation of the project."

Arup Roy Choudhury,the CMD of NTPC,said that NTPC as an equal Joint Venture partner will bring the best practices of his company during the implementation as well long term implementation of the project.He noted that NTPC as a responsible corporate citizen accords environment a high priority and all power stations of NTPC was a testimony to that.

NTPC would like to replicate its environmental friendly way of doing business.Its involvement in this JV project will automatically ensure technology transfer in implementation and running of the power plant."

India’s largest power company,NTPC was established in 1975 to accelerate power development in India.NTPC is emerging as a diversified power major with presence in the power generation value chain. It,was placed 341st in the ‘ 2010, Forbes Global 2000’ ranking of the world’s biggest companies.NTPC has been conferred with the coveted Maharatna status by the Government of India for its outstanding achievements over the years. The total installed capacity of NTPC is 34,854 MW, with 15 coal based,seven gas based power stations and six joint venture power projects located across India.It,generated 220.54 Billion Units (BUs) of electricity during 2010-11, contributing more than 27% of total electricity generated in India with about 18 % share of country’s total installed capacity.NTPC is currently working on many new projects for rapid capacity addition and plans to become 128,000 MW plus company by 2032. In the financial year 2010-11,NTPC had a total income of approx. INR 570 billion (i.e USD 12.5 billion approx.) and profit after tax approx. INR 90 billion (i.e USD 2 billion approx.).

The Ceylon Electricity Board is a corporate body established in Sri Lanka in 1969. It is empowered to generate, transmit and distribute electricity to all categories of consumer in Sri Lanka. CEB operates 24 power plants with an aggregate installed generation capacity of 2058 MW. The transmission network of CEB dispatches a total of 3100 MW, including generation from IPPs. The annual revenue of CEB in 2010 was about SLR 121 billion (i.e USD 1.1 billion approx.). The annual sales of CEB distribution network was 9,268 GWh in 2010, and the maximum peak demand met in 2010 was 1,955 MW. 
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