8 bids in for Rs 24,200-cr TN power project

Plant to also provide power to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh & Punjab

Eight companies have evinced interest in developing the Rs 24,200-crore Cheyyur ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Tamil Nadu — India’s first coastal power plant to be bid out with an attached captive port.

According to Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for UMPPs, eight firms had submitted requests for qualification (RFQs) for the project as on Thursday, the last day for submission of bids. “The companies are NTPC, Adani Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Power, China Light & Power, GMR Energy, L&T and Sterlite Infraventures,” PFC said in a statement.

Debt-ridden GMR Energy is the only new entrant in the race for the two UMPPs. The other applicants are also competing for a similar sized project to be located in Odisha. Also, Tata Power, which had submitted an RFQ for the Odisha UMPP, has chosen not to compete for the Cheyyur UMPP. The company is currently facing issues with the tariff of its flagship Mundra UMPP in Gujarat.

The Cheyyur project would be the country’s third coastal UMPP, after Mundra in Gujarat and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh operated by Reliance. PFC had floated RFQs for the 4,000-Mw project in September along with the RFQ for the Odisha UMPP.

The state-owned lender had received nine bids for the Odisha UMPP by Monday, the deadline for bid submission. The bidders are hydro major NHPC (which teamed up with Bharat Heavy Electricals and Singareni Collieries), NTPC, Tata Power, Adani Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Power Ltd , Vedanta Group company Sterlite Infraventures, China Light & Power and Engineering giant L&T.

PFC will now screen these companies on technical parameters. It will invite financial bids or requests for proposal, from the selected firms in December. The financial bids will be opened in February 2014. PFC had planned to issue a letter of award (LoA) to the winning bidder in the same month. Power from the coastal project will be supplied to seven states, including the lead procurer Tamil Nadu (1,600 Mw), Karnataka (800 Mw), Andhra Pradesh (400 Mw), Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (300 Mw each) and Punjab (200 Mw).

The Southern bench of the National Green Tribunal, through an order passed last month, had restricted the government from awarding the project pending its final order on a petition filed by locals who challenged the grant of green clearance to the project, alleging the project violated environmental norms.