Steamhouse India Ltd has secured a ₹311 crore engineering, procurement and construction mandate for a common steam and co-generation power plant at the Bulk Drug Park in Una, Himachal Pradesh, along with responsibility for commissioning and operating the facility for 25 years.
The project for Himachal Pradesh Bulk Drug Park Infrastructure Ltd will include a 300-tonnes-per-hour steam plant, a connected steam distribution network and an indicative 30 MW co-generation facility. The EPC contract value includes GST, the company said in a statement.
The EPC phase is expected to take 24 months, subject to the signing of a definitive agreement, required approvals, site readiness and other project conditions. Once commissioned, Steamhouse will provide comprehensive operation and maintenance services for the facility over the subsequent 25-year period.
According to the company, the entire project cost will be funded by Himachal Pradesh Bulk Drug Park Infrastructure Ltd. Steamhouse said this arrangement will limit its working-capital requirement and support its asset-light business model, under which centralised utility infrastructure is developed and operated for industrial customers.
The commercial structure will be based on actual operating costs, a permitted markup and recovery of the operating expenditure gap funding. Charges and revenue sharing will be linked to a standardised internal rate of return applicable to the pharmaceutical and active pharmaceutical ingredient sector, as approved by the competent authority.
The arrangement provides for an initial subsidised period, followed by a 20-year revenue-sharing period from April 2032 to March 2052. The company said the project could also evaluate biomass and other suitable waste-derived fuels, subject to technical feasibility, environmental regulations and the necessary approvals.
The state implementing agency will procure the electricity generated by the project’s turbines and retain rights over its further distribution or sale, according to Steamhouse. The plant’s steam network is intended to supply common industrial utilities to manufacturing units within the bulk drug park, reducing the need for individual facilities to develop separate steam-generation systems.
Bulk Drug Parks are designed to provide shared infrastructure and utilities for pharmaceutical manufacturing clusters. Common facilities can support industrial units by consolidating services such as steam and power generation, although the Una project’s implementation remains subject to approvals, site readiness and the definitive contractual agreement.
Steamhouse currently has about 345 TPH of steam generation and distribution capacity under its own generation and distribution model. With the 300 TPH Una project and another 360 TPH of capacity under construction, the company’s potential generation and distribution platform could reach about 1,005 TPH, subject to completion and commissioning.
Chairman and Managing Director Vishal S Budhia said the Una project would expand the company’s community boiler model beyond Gujarat and strengthen its presence in industrial clusters across India. He described the combination of the steam plant, indicative power-generation capacity, EPC mandate and long-term O&M contract as a platform for the company’s expansion.
The next stages are the definitive agreement, requisite approvals, site readiness and execution of the 24-month EPC phase. The 25-year O&M period will begin after commissioning, subject to the project’s completion and operational conditions.
