BRASILIA, Feb. 7 -- IE Belo Monte, a group which China's State Grid Corp. leads with a 51-percent stake, won the tender on Friday to build and operate a transmission line for the Belo Monte hydro-electric plant in northern Brazil.

The consortium, which also includes Brazil's state-owned Furnas (24.5 percent stake) and Eletronorte (24.5 percent stake), prevailed in the auction held at the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, according to Brazil's National Electricity Agency (Aneel).

IE Belo Monte proposed to limit its annual revenue to 434.6 million reais (182.2 million U.S. dollars), 38 percent less than the ceiling established by the government, lower than that of two other competitors.

Aneel said the power line, a major national electricity project, would demand an estimated investment of 5 billion reais (some 2.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Belo Monte hydro-electric plant should begin operating in February 2015, generating some 12,500 direct jobs, Aneel said.

The power line will be 2,100 km long and will have the capacity to provide 4,000 megawatts (MW) electricity, linking the substations in the northern state of Para and southern state of Minas Gerais.