Texmaco, PLN eye Indian power project

Texmaco, PLN eye Indian power project

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned electricity company PLN and the
Texmaco Group have formed a new strategic alliance in a bid to
win a tender for a power plant project worth US$700 million in
Tamilnadu, southern India.

The project, the construction of a 1,500 MW power plant and
transmission lines has been tendered globally.

"The alliance will strengthen Texmaco's position to win the
bidding," said PLN's president director Djiteng Marsudi after the
signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

"This is also an opportunity for PLN to get into the global
power business," Ditjeng added.

Under the MOU, PLN would control, operate and maintain the
power plant, and Texmaco subsidiary PT Wisma Karya Prasetya would
handle management, equipment, supply and liaison.

Texmaco Group chairman Marimutu Sinivasan said Wisma Karya
wished to take part in bidding but lacked expertise in the power
sector.

Marimutu said Wisma Karya was confident of winning the bid
with the partnership of PLN.

Djiteng said PLN might have a stake in the power project and
the company was ready to send its employees to work overseas.

"We are likely to send our workers abroad. In this era of
globalization, we have to be able to seize business opportunities
abroad," said Djiteng.

Texmaco, considered to be widely diversified, is active in the
machineries and textile industries.

Texmaco's subsidiaries include the publicly-listed PT Texmaco
Perkasa Engineering, which produces textile machinery. machine
tools, trucks, and other capital goods; the publicly-listed PT
Polysindo Eka Perkasa Indonesia, which is Indonesia's largest
integrated producer of textiles; and the publicly-listed PT
Texmaco Jaya, which is also a textile producer.

Texmaco's prowess in the manufacture of sophisticated
machinery has been acknowledged by various parties.

State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie
recently said Texmaco was able to manufacture car and aircraft
components. (jsk)