Unocal to Bid for Projects in India

Unocal Corp. said it will jointly bid with other companies for electric power generation, gas pipeline, port and fertilizer projects in India that could be worth as much as $4 billion. The El Segundo-based oil and gas exploration company would manage the projects. Together with partners it didn’t identify, Unocal will finance 70% of the costs through borrowings and the rest through equity, the company said. The projects would help Unocal tap surging demand for energy in India. The country needs to attract investments to add about 40,000 megawatts of power production capacity and end power shortages, the government said. For the year ended March, India generated 394.4 billion units of electricity, but demand was an estimated 465 billion units.