Anil Ambani group's Reliance Power is looking to invest about $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore) towards purchase of large-size vessels for shipping coal from abroad to its Krishnapatnam and other projects.
Reliance Power, which has bagged the country's two ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, has already received initial quotations from some major shipping yards in China, Korea and Japan towards its order for Capesize vessels.
Capesize vessels are among the world's biggest shipping vessels with capacity of up to 200,000 tonnes and these ships are mostly used in handling deep water terminals for raw materials such as iron ore and coal.
Reliance Power would initially use these vessels for shipping coal to its Krishnapatnam project, while in future they would be used for other imported coal-based projects as well, sources close to the development said.
The delivery is expected to start by 2011, coinciding with the commissioning of the Krishnapatnam project, they added.
A company spokesperson could not be reached for comments.
However, sources said that the company was looking to further increase its planned investment towards shipping activities and it has already started building a team of shipping professionals to manage the process of ship acquisition and operations.
With over 20 million tonnes of coal to be imported every year for Krishnapatnam and Shahpur power projects, the company could soon become a major player in the bulk shipping business in India, they added.
Reliance Power is understood to have already mandated some international brokers for purchase of vessels and getting the quotes of shipping yards from across the world.
Reliance Power Limited, an arm of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group develops, constructs and operates power projects both domestically and internationally.
The company is currently developing 13 medium and large sized power plants with a planned installed capacity of 28,200 MW. The company has bagged two ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
