Champoor power plant awaits Sri Lanka cabinet approval

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 September 2009, 18:18 GMT]
The joint agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka to construct the second coal power plant at Champoor in Moothoor east in Trincomalee district is to be signed after the Sri Lanka Government cabinet approval, according to media reports. The negotiations between the National Thermal Power Corporation of India (NTPC) and the Ceylon Electricity Board are complete, the reports added.

At least five different agreements pertaining to the two stage 1000 MW project runs to hundreds of pages and the officials are going over their final drafts for accuracy, local media said. Agreements include the 500 acre land lease, coal supply agreement with Lanka Coal Supply Co, Ltd., power purchase pact, implementation agreement and the BOI joint venture deal, which will assure a 25 year tax holiday, The Nation reported.

Champoor project is a "50-50 joint venture between the CEB and NTPC and envisages each pumping in approximately $75 million, while the balance US$ 350 million required for the completion of the USD$500 million Stage 1 of the project will come from lending institutions, both multilateral and commercial," the paper said.

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