Reliance Power moves Delhi court on Tilaiya UMPP

Seeks stay on encashment of Rs 800-cr bank guarantee

The Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Power has moved a court here for a stay on encashment of its Rs 800-crore bank guarantee for the Tilaiya ultra mega power project in Jharkhand.

The case was filed after the company announced it was pulling out of the project on April 28, said a government official. A Reliance Power spokesperson did not comment on the issue.

The 4,000-megawatt (Mw) Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) is one of three Reliance Power is setting up.

Reliance Power announced last week its special purpose vehicle, Jharkhand Integrated Power Limited, had terminated power purchase agreements with 18 buyers in 10 states over delayed land acquisition.

Besides Jharkhand, Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana were among the places with whom the company had signed 25-year contracts for power supply.

The company said land required for the project was yet to be made available.

"Even the forest land in the power station area, for which the stage II forest clearance was accorded by the central government in November 2010, has not been handed over. For the coal block, the land acquisition process is yet to be initiated, for which the application was submitted in February 2009," Reliance Power had said.

After 25 review meetings with the Jharkhand government over five and a half years, Reliance Power said the project could not have been completed before 2023-24 at the present pace of land transfer.

The Tilaiya project was awarded to Reliance Power at a levelised tariff of Rs 1.77 a unit, in an auction that saw participation by NTPC, Lanco Infratech, Jindal Power and Sterlite Energy.

The company had planned capital expenditure of Rs 36,000 crore for the project, which comes along with the Kerandari coal block in the North Karanpura coal fields in Jharkhand.

Of the 16 UMPPs the previous United Progressive Alliance government had planned, only four were awarded.

Three of these at Sasan, Tilaiya and Krishnapatnam were to be set up by Reliance Power and the one at Mundra by Tata Power.

Reliance Power's Sasan UMPP achieved completion last month. The Krishnapatnam project in Tamil Nadu, which will run on imported coal, is delayed by clearances.

Reliance Power had bid aggressively at Rs 1.29 per unit and Rs 2.33 per unit for these two UMPPs.

ABOUT THE PROJECT
| It was awarded to Reliance Power at a levelised rate of Rs 1.77 a unit in an auction that saw participation by NTPC, Lanco Infratech, Jindal Power and Sterlite Energy
| The company had planned capital expenditure of Rs 36,000 cr for the project
| The project comes along with the Kerandari coal block in North Karanpura coal fields in Jharkhand