Damodar Valley Corp, Tata Power ink pact

BUS24Business/Energy/NationalDamodar Valley Corp, Tata Power ink pactKolkata, Sep 26 IANS State-owned power producer Damodar Valley Corp DVC and private player Tata Power Friday signed an agreement to explore options for capacity augmentation, mining and research and development, the government said here Friday."These two companies will look into doubling the capacity of Maithon Power Ltd MPL. They will also take up various corporate social responsibility CSR projects," Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh said at a press meet. MPL is a joint venture between Tata Power and DVC, with Tata holding a 76 percent stake. Under the pact, Tata Power and DVC will carry out a detailed feasibility study to expand MPL's generation capacity from 1,050 MW to 2,850-3,150 MW in a phased manner. The two companies also agreed to explore setting up new power plants either through fresh joint ventures or through MPL, apart from exploring non-conventional and renewable energy projects. Additionally, Tata Power and DVC will explore either together or in association with other partners through a new joint venture company to develop coal-mining projects for meeting the coal requirement of MPL or any new power projects. "There will be 60-70 million tonnes shortage of coal by 2011. We should take this matter very seriously and try and develop coal mining through joint ventures," Ramesh said. --Indo-Asian News Service ag/ank/vt242 Words26091801