JSW Energy to Set Up Power Plant in South Africa

Integrated power generator JSW Energy, looking for suitable acquisitions inside India, is planning to set up a 450–600-MW coal-fired plant in South Africa where the power sector is opening up for investment.

"We are interested in acquiring power projects in India. The sector will now see only serious long-term players. Many of the new players have put on hold their projects or are going slow," Navraj Singh, senior vice president, business development, JSW Energy, said.

According to him, the decision on target companies would depend on the total package, whether land acquisition has been done and the like.

Many of the domestic power projects have hit the roadblock and only long-term players can continue in this space, say sector analysts.

Meanwhile, JSW Energy, with a domestic generation capacity of 2,600 MW, is planning to put up a pit head power plant in South Africa where it has a 0.5 million tonne coal mine.

President Jacob Zuma last week ruled out nationalization of South Africa's massive mining sector and announced ambitious infrastructure projects that would generate jobs.