India electricity
China Light & Power (CLP) and Cogentrix Energy, the joint promoters of the Mangalore Power Co, have decided to reduce their equity holding in the company from 100 per cent to 52 per cent.
The divestment will only be in favour of other foreign investors, and not to an Indian corporation or institution. CLP sources in Bombay said the investors were yet to be identified.
In the original plan, CLP was to have a 40 per cent stake, with Cogentrix holding 60 per cent in the controversial 1,000-megawatt power project, located in the coastal town of Mangalore, Karnataka state.
The overall project cost has escalated from an estimate of US$1.11 billion, when the project was cleared by the Indian government in October 1996, to a present level of $1.3 billion. About 70 per cent of the project is to be financed through debt, and the balance through equity.
