Adani Power says it may evaluate UMPP opportunities

Govt is in the process of finalising the standard bidding documents for future UMPPs and other power projects

Adani Power, which has ambitious capacity addition plans, is likely to evaluate opportunities for ultra mega power projects as and when bidding comes up.

The leading power producer, however, has flagged problems faced by the private sector such as shortage of quality fuel and delays in land acquisition for projects.

It has an operational capacity of 7,260 MW, including the 4,620 MW coal-fired Mundra plant.

"The company may evaluate Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), coal based power projects with a capacity of 4,000 MW or above, as and when they come up for bidding," Adani Power said in its 2012-13 annual report.

The government is in the process of finalising the standard bidding documents for future UMPPs and other power projects.

So far, four UMPPs have been awarded to the developers and one is operational.

Last week, the Prime Minister's Office had set deadlines for key infrastructure projects including two UMPPs. As per the schedule, UMPPs at Cheyyar in Tamil Nadu and Bedabahal in Odisha should be awarded by January 31, 2014.

Meanwhile, Adani Power in its annual report also said that renewable energy and power transmission sectors provide large opportunities.

"Considering rapid generation capacity growth and the creation of a national power grid, provide large opportunities in the transmission sector for private sector, both through joint ventures and competitive bidding," the report noted.

On the other hand, Adani Power said the biggest grievance of private sector has been the long process of clearances, securing fuel linkages and delays in land acquisition.

"Inadequate domestic supply of quality fuel, viz coal and gas results in higher costs of generation.

"Additionally, due to transportation bottlenecks at ports, high prices of imported coal, volatility in exchange rates and lack of demand for such expensive power, the imported coal may not fully cover deficit of domestic coal," the report said.

Among others, the company noted that most of the state utilities are loss-making ones.

"Over the long term, unless AT&C (Aggregate Technical & Commercial) losses are reduced, the ability of state utilities to meet their obligations will be of grave concern," it added.