The 600 MW thermal power project at West Bengal's Haldia, being developed by power utility CESC Limited - now a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company, will be commissioned by end of 2013-14, Goenka, CESC Vice Chairman, said on Friday after the annual general meeting of the company.

"We already have 448 acres of land at Haldia under our possession, which is required to set up one 600 MW unit in the first phase. We will start construction for the first phase in September, which would be completed in three years time with September as the zero date. All requisite clearances and investment approval are in place. Coal linkages have also been secured,” he said.

Goenka said land has already been identified for a coal-based project at Danro in Jharkhand (near Dumka). "The Jharkhand revenue department has recommended 320 acres of land. The project got the clearance from panchayat. For the first phase, 350 acres of land is needed. Preliminary work for mining is on now," he said.

The detailed project report (DPR) for the 90 MW hydro power project in Arunachal Pradesh, has also been completed, he said adding that over and above this, a 9 MW solar power project at Pratapgarh in Gujarat will be commissioned within the next three quarters. Total investment in the project will be Rs.120 crore, he said.

On Spencer’s he said that the total revenue of Spencer’s in Q1 has gone up from Rs 240 crore (in the corresponding quarter, last year) to Rs 290 crore, while at the store level, revenue has gone up from Rs 887/sq ft to Rs 1017/sq ft. The store EBIDTA has gone up from Rs(-)3/sq ft to Rs 22/sq ft.

Responding to queries, Goenka said he was also open to the idea of aligning with global retail majors as long as FDI is allowed. In fact, the group was already in talks with a few leading MNC retail players for equity dilution, he said, without divulging names.