SPML Infra POWERGRID Order: Rs 186.41 Crore for 20 Bays at Bhadla-III and Ramgarh

SPML Infra has won a Rs 186.41 crore POWERGRID order to add 20 bays at two substations in western Rajasthan’s solar belt, Bhadla-III and the Ramgarh Pooling Station. The Kolkata company says it marks its entry into 765 kV work. For plant owners in western Rajasthan, it is not a big earthmoving contract. It is 27 months of foundation pits, cable trenches, small concrete pours and crane lifts inside two live switchyards. That kind of work is usually hired, not bought.

What the company disclosed

SPML disclosed the order in a Regulation 30 filing reported on 4 November. Business Upturn’s summary of the NSE filing gives the 27-month term, the pending LoA and the EPC basis. Energetica India and SolarQuarter carry the bay-by-bay scope from the company’s release, and both give the same counts. Managing Director Abhinandan Sethi called it the company’s entry into 765 kV work. The filing summary splits neither the value between the two sites nor between supply and civil work.

Does a substation bay order pull machines worth chasing?

Some, but less than the headline suggests. Spread across 20 bays, the order averages about Rs 9.3 crore a bay, and that figure includes switchgear, ICT bay equipment, structures and erection. On an EPC substation job most of the money pays for electrical kit, so the civil slice is a minority. Over 27 months the whole order runs at roughly Rs 6.9 crore a month.

These are extensions of operating AIS yards, not new platforms, so there is little bulk earthwork. Our read of the civil work, given that no drawings are public:

• Gantry and equipment foundations, plus cable trenches: backhoe loaders and compact excavators, because work sits close to energised bays.
• Many small, scattered pours: concrete mixers, often self-loading units, rather than a batching plant.
• Gravel and backfill: plate and small compactors.
• Gantry and equipment erection: mobile and pick-and-carry cranes of the kind ACE and Escorts Kubota build, working under clearance limits next to live conductors. ICT placement is usually a specialist haulage and jacking job.

Two sites and short, separate tasks point to hire. A backhoe and a mixer may stay for the full term, and cranes will come in for days at a time. Western Rajasthan has no monsoon shutdown for this kind of work, so heat rather than rain sets the schedule, and plant can stay busy most of the year.

FAQ

What order did SPML Infra win from POWERGRID?

A Rs 186.41 crore EPC order under the 765 kV AIS Extension Substation Package SS-155T, to add bays at the Bhadla-III substation and the Ramgarh Pooling Station in Rajasthan.

Has the Letter of Award been issued?

Not yet, according to the company’s filing. POWERGRID communicated the order by email, and the 27-month execution period runs from the date of the LoA.

Which machines does a substation bay extension use?

Backhoe loaders and compact excavators for foundations and cable trenches, concrete mixers for small pours, compactors for gravel and backfill, and mobile or pick-and-carry cranes for erecting gantries and equipment.

Related on DesiMachines: KEC International wins Rs 2,872 crore PGCIL 765 kV line orders for Gujarat renewables

Source: Energetica India

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