Power agreements with India soon

[September 20 2010]

The long-awaited agreements on Sampur Coal Power Plant and the Anuradhapura High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) under-sea cable link to India are expected to be finalised before the end of next month. Sri Lanka-India under sea HVDC transmission line, which is linked to the Sampur agreements, will be finalised by October end.

The 1GW Sampur Power Plant phase one will provide 500MW to Sri Lanka’s national grid by 2012. The construction work is to be carried out by NPTC under the supervision of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The first stage is budgeted at nearly Rs.56.5 billion (US $ 500mn), out of which 70 percent will be covered by foreign aid while the rest would be jointly funded by NTPC and the CEB. <>PThe proposed 400 KV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line which would connect Madurai in Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura via Talai Mannar, will be built by India’s central transmission utility- PowerGrid Corporation.