Bidding process for Sundergarh UMPP extended till Jan end

The bidding process for the 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) proposed to be set up at Bedabahal in Orissa's Sundergarh district, has been delayed further.

The deadline for responding to the 'Request for Qualification' (RFQ) for this project has been extended till January 31. This is the third time the RFQ deadline for the project has been extended. Initially the deadline was July 31, from which it has been extended by two months each time.

Meanwhile, the land acquisition work for the project has taken off. The UMPP, entailing an investment of Rs 16,000 crore, requires 3100 acres of land. The Orissa Integrated Power Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for UMPPs, has already invited RFQ for the project.

Water for this UMPP would be allocated from the Ib river and check dams and barrages would be put up on the river for this purpose. It may be noted that Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks with a total reserve of 880 million tonnes have been allotted for this project.

A high-level meeting chaired by the state Chief Secretary B K Pattnaik was held here recently on the site selection of the UMPPs.

Besides the Bedabahal UMPP, there are proposals to set up two more UMPPs in the state.

While the Centre proposed to set up the second UMPP in Bolangir district, five locations were shortlisted for the third UMPP. These are Kirtania, Dhamara, Astaranga, Paradeep and Gopalpur. The Centre has sought additional information on the suitability of these locations and the concerned departments of the state government would soon furnish the information, said an official source.

Orissa would get 1300 MW from the first UMPP at Bedabahal and 50 per cent of the power generated by the other two UMPPs.

The Orissa government has signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with as many as 27 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for setting up power plants with a combined capacity of 32,420 MW.

The state government had asked 17 of these IPPs to adopt super critical technologies.