GE in 750 million dollar turbine deal with Reliance Power

NEW DELHI: US conglomerate General Electric has landed India's largest single order for gas and steam turbines in a 750-million-dollar deal with utility giant Reliance Power.

GE will provide six gas turbines and three steam turbines to fuel a 2,400-megawatt expansion of a Reliance power plant in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the US company said in a statement late Monday.

The new plant is expected to be up and running by the first half of 2012.

India is the sixth largest energy consumer in the world and its demand for natural gas has been growing at a rate of 6.5 percent for the past 10 years.

"Our flexible advanced, gas-fired combined-cycle technology will enable Reliance Power to produce large amounts of electricity and fuel India's growing economy," said Paul Browning, vice president of thermal products for GE Power and Water.

Reliance Power is India's largest integrated private sector power utility company.

The announcement of the deal comes two weeks before US President Barack Obama pays a visit to India that is expected to push a raft of other deals in the energy and military sectors.