SJVN to invest Rs.35,000 Cr to add 3000 MW capacity in 5 yrs

Public sector SJVN Limited plans an investment of Rs.35,000 crore during  next five years to add 3000-4000 MW to its generation capacity. The company already  has an installed capacity of 2016 MW from its five operational power plants in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, said Nand Lal Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director addressing the media here today. He told that the company has a net worth of Rs.11,759 crore and envisages not to seek fresh equity funding from Government of India or the Government of Himachal Pradesh, its major shareholders, but meet the expenditure from its internal accruals and loans from banks and other financial institutions. He told that during the past 17 years of its commercial operations, the company had earned profits of Rs.17,300 crore. SJVN, he told,  had started its journey from a mega 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydro power station which was commissioned in 2003-04.

He further revealed that on an equity investment of Rs 3000 crore, the Government of India, holding 59.92 % shares, had already been paid a cumulative dividend of Rs 4934 crore while the government of Himachal Pradesh, holding 26.85 % equity in the company and an investment of Rs.1055 crore, had been paid cumulative dividend of Rs.1949 crore. The balance 13.23 % shares of the company are held by the public, he told. The government of Himachal Pradesh had also reaped the benefits of free power and power at bus-bar rates leading to a further benefit of Rs.2000 crore, he said.

At such  profitable operations the company plans to equity fund its expansions from internal accruals, told Nand Lal Sharma.  SJVN, he told, is implementing a 900 MW hydro power project in Bhutan, a 600 MW hydro power project in Bhutan, a 1320 MW Thermal power project in Bihar, and three hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand besides two Solar Power plants in Gujarat. Talking about the human resource productivity of the company, he said that during the last financial year profits of Rs.1652 crore had been earned with an employee strength of only 1535 which translates into a profitability of Rs.1.07 crore per person.

SJVN presently has a portfolio of 7690 MW out of which 2016 MW is in operation while 3356 MW is in construction stage, 588 MW in pre-construction and 1730 MW is under survey and Investigation. By 2023 the company targets to achieve 5000 MW of installed capacity.

Nand Lal Sharma told that the company had been allocated two hydro power projects of 778 MW in Chenab basin by the government of Himachal Pradesh while the company is trying to get three more projects in the basin which will result in economic viability of these projects.