PFC plans foray into consultancy services

Mumbai, August 24: Power Finance Corporation PFC, the prime lending company in the power sector, is diversifying into consultancy services. The corporation has created a separate consultancy service wing, which will be a separate profit centre and has projected a turnover of Rs 100 crore by 2003-4.

According to PFC officials, the consultancy services will begin with preparing detailed project reports DPRs for companies interested in setting up power projects in India, either in thermal or the hydel sectors. In the second stage, the corporation will also take projects from the concept to the commissioning stage. PFC officials said that such type of consultancy services is already provided by IDFC, Price Waterhouse and KPMG, but PFC8217;s USP will be that its costs will be cheaper in comparison. The preparation of DPRs will help in the promotion of the hydel sector in particular since private developers find the task of preparing DPRs for hydel projects very arduous because of the complex geological surveysrequired.

The low cost will mainly be because the corporation will be employing in-house personnel for the purpose and wherever need be employ individual consultants instead of consultancy firms. With such a strategy, PFC has projected that within five years it will be able to have orders worth Rs 500-600 crore in its hands.

Though the services will be open to both, public and private sector units, PFC will be according special preference to the independent power producers IPPs.