The Kolkata-based infrastructure development company SPML Infra Ltd has been assigned with two various work orders worth Rs.1,802 crore by the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd of Bihar and the Public Health Engineering Department of Rajasthan.
SBPDCL has awarded contracts worth Rs.1,000 crore for rural electrification projects in Patna and Gaya districts under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojana.
The scope involves construction, erection, testing and commissioning of 33 &11 kV substations, augmentation of 33 &11kV existing substations, 33 kV and 11 kV transmission lines spanning a length of 7,246-km in Patna and 6,183-km in Gaya, re-conductoring of 33kV line to a length of 56,164 km in Patna and 57,733 km in Gaya, LT lines of 5,309 km in Patna and 6,058 km in Gaya, and also providing BPL service connections in both the districts.
On commenting the power sector in Bihar to Projectmonitor, Rishabh Sethi, Executive Director, SPML Infra Ltd, said, “Bihar is one of the fastest growing states and the state government is taking a number of initiatives to develop power and water infrastructure. But there is still a wide demand- supply gap that needs to be bridged; only about 53 per cent of villages are electrified, leaving a large population with no access to electricity.”
He further stated that SPML’s mandate is to provide power to all households in Patna district which has more than a million households with over six million population and in Gaya district with almost a million households with around four million population. “Our power distribution works in Bhagalpur has already started and we will be revamping the power network, installing meters, improve billing and collections and developing new infrastructure for the urban and rural areas of Bhagalpur”, he said.
The company has received orders worth Rs.802 crore from Public Health Engineering Department of Kota, Ajmer and Bharatpur for water supply schemes to benefit 445 villages and their dhanies in Ajmer, Bharatpur and Jhalawar districts.
The scope of work for the Rs.308 crore Gagreen water supply project in Jhalawar involves construction and commissioning of intake pumping stations, raw water mains, water treatment plant, clear water reservoir, elevated service reservoirs, cluster distribution and village distribution system with associated civil, electrical and mechanical works with PLC & SCADA on single responsibility turnkey basis.
The Rs.248-crore order from PHED, Ajmer is for regional water supply scheme for 199 villages and their habitants of Jawaja Panchayat Samiti in Beawar tehsil of Ajmer district. The DBOT project is to be completed in 36 months with nine years of operation & maintenance.
The Rs.246-crore project from PHED, Bharatpur is for development of regional water supply infrastructure for 246 villages and their NRVs and dhanies of Kaman and Pahari tehsils of Bharatpur under Chlorination disinfection by-products water supply scheme. The time line of this single responsibility turnkey basis project is 30 months and SPML will be responsible for its operation & maintenance for 10 years after the commissioning.
On his outlook on the Indian power sector, Sethi said, “I am very positive that the power situation in India will improve significantly with a large number of power projects that are on the execution stage.”
SPML Infra is executing a number of power projects in India and committed to nation’s power development programs. SPML is currently developing infrastructure to generate renewable energy and executing a number of balance of plant projects for the thermal power plant in different states. Within this financial year 2013-14, SPML Infra has received orders worth Rs.2,886 crore, as of August, and the company plans hope to add more in the coming months. SPML’s order book position has crossed Rs.6,000 crore mark.