GMR Group

GMR Group Ltd is a privately owned Indian infrastructure company with interests in airports, energy, highways and urban infrastructure. In May 2012 the company's chief financial officer A. Subba Rao told the Wall Street Journal that “whether they are overseas sovereign funds or even Indian banks, investors are very apprehensive about putting in money into the infrastructure sector.” He also stated that the downgrading of India's credit rating and the fall of the rupee against the US dollar had also increased financing costs. Particular problems facing the power sector were difficulties accessing coal and gas and acquiring land.

Coal power projects
GMR's coal projects include the:


 * 1370 megawatt Chhattisgarh GMR power station which has a proposed commissioning date of 2014.


 * Kamalanga power station is a 1400 MW coal based thermal power project at Kamalanga, in Dhenkanal district of Orissa. The company states that the "project is in advanced stage of development and is expected to go onstream by end 2012." The project is being developed by a GMR Energy subsidiary, GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd. (GKEL);


 * EMCO Energy Warora Power Project, a 600 MW coal based power plant in Warora, Maharashtra. GMR states that through the acquisition of EMCO Energy it gained the project which it states "is expected to be commissioned by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan."

Coal mines

 * On its website GMR Group states that it has "acquired a 55.84% stake in Homeland Energy Group Ltd. (HEG), a listed company which owns coal properties in South Africa through its subsidiary the Homeland Mining and Energy (HMESA). HEG owns a controlling interest in the already operational Kendal mines, partially explored Eloff mines and other exploration sites with total mineable reserves of around 300 million tonnes."
 * MMR also states that the "GMR Group has acquired a 100% stake in PT Barasentosa Lestari (PT BSL), an Indonesian Greenfield coal mining company with proven reserves. PT BSL is estimated to have a mining life of around 25 years based on the explored reserves, with a significant area which is yet to be explored. The reserve for the asset located at Muara Lakitan, Musi Rawas Province, South Sumatra is about 110 Million Tons. The mine is likely to go into production by end 2011 and will gradually scale up to produce about 6 MTPA."

Contact details
GMR Group, IBC Knowledge Park, Phase 2, "D" Block, 9th Floor, 4/1, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore - 560 029, Karnataka, India T: +91 80 40432000 F: +91 80 40432180 E:  info AT gmrgroup.in Website: http://www.gmrgroup.in/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * India and coal

External articles

 * Prasenjit Bhattacharya, "GMR: Banks, Funds Apprehensive About Investing in Infrastructure", Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2012.