Hyderabad: Construction company Navayuga Group plans a major expansion into ports and power generation involving investments of around Rs24,000 crore over the next five years.
According to Navayuga chairman Chinta Visweswar Rao, Rs5,000 crore will be invested in enhancing cargo handling at the Krishnapatnam port and Rs12,000 crore in setting up power plants with a 3,000MW cumulative capacity.
The group intends to spend Rs6,000 crore in developing two more ports through so-called special purposevehicles.
Navayuga, which is executing the Krishnapatnam port, said the first phase—costing Rs1,200 crore—will be operational by June, six months ahead of schedule. It would have an initial cargo handling capacity of 20 million tonnes (mt) per annum.
The port company plans to enhance the annual cargo handling capacity to around 90mt by 2011-12 and to 120mt by 2016-17.
Rao said the cargo handling capacity is being increased to meet the growing coal import needs of ultra mega power projects coming up around Krishnapatnam.
“We are currently in discussions with two neighbouring states to developing major sea ports and expect to firm up arrangements in the next quarter or so,” he added.
Rao also said the group is currently at an advanced stage of finalizing two portside power projects of above 1,000MW each to run on imported coal. Rao also said “several domestic and foreign investors are keen to pick up significant stakes in the ports and power projects, though we haven’t decided yet.”
To meet the needs of the industrial units around the Krishnapatnam port, Navayuga, in association with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp. Ltd (APIIC), is setting up a desalination plant at a cost of around Rs1,000 crore. The works for the project, with a capacity of 100 million litres a day, would begin in the next quarter.
APIIC would take up to 11% equity at a price yet to be specified, while Navayuga would hold the balance, Rao said.
In November 2006, 3i India, a private equity firm headquartered in the UK, picked up a 10% stake in Navayuga Engineering Co. Ltd, the group’s flagship, for Rs200 crore.