Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance [Get Quote] Power on Wednesday bagged its third 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project, at Tilaiya, in Jharkhand.

"Reliance Power has bagged the 4,000-MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand," a source said. The Reliance bid for the project was Rs 1.77 per unit.

Five companies, including NTPC, Reliance Power, Lanco Infratech [Get Quote], Jindal Power and Sterlite Energy, of the 11 pre-qualified bidders, were in the fray for the project.

The financial bids for the project were opened on Wednesday. A high-level committee, which includes state representatives from Bihar and Jharkhand, selected the developer.

The financial and technical bids for the coal-based thermal power project were invited on December 29 and the final financial bids were to be opened within 15 days.

The bidding process for the UMPP had been delayed due to various reasons, including the global slowdown.

Apart from the delays in bidding, the Tilaiya project faced loss of time on identifying the site, getting the water source and obtaining other regulatory clearances.

The project entails an investment of Rs 16,000-18,000 crore (Rs 160 billion-180 billion) and will have a debt equity ratio of 70:30.

PFC is the nodal agency for UMPPs and is facilitating the process of selecting the developer of the Tilaiya project.

Tilaiya is the fourth UMPP to be awarded to a developer. Earlier, two UMPPs bagged by Reliance Power are those of Sasan and Krishnapatnam. Tata Power [Get Quote] got the Mundra UMPP.

The financial closure for Tata Power's Mundra project has been completed and the other two are expected to follow suit.