CCI nod for Reliance Power's Tilaiya UMPP

Post clearance, UMPPs would be considered on a par with projects of govt companies

The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) has cleared a power ministry proposal to exempt Reliance Power from providing non-forest land as a compensation for forest land acquisition for its 3,960 Megawatt (Mw) Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Jharkhand.

Post the clearance, UMPPs would be considered on a par with projects of government companies in matters related to compensatory afforestation.

At present, only central government or public sector undertakings have exemption from the obligation to provide non-forest land. The developers would deposit the cost of the land with the state government.

The project was to be commissioned in 2012 but got delayed owing to the issue of land clearance. The environment ministry, under the then minister Jayanthi Natarajan, had argued the Tilaiya project could not be treated as a government undertaking for the purpose of the compensatory afforestation.

Reliance Power had bagged the project in August 2009 after quoting an average tariff of Rs 1.77 a unit. Under the UMPP scheme, the government provides land, forest and environment clearances before the project is handed over to the winning bidder.

Out of around 2,413 acres, 470 acre of private land has been handed over to the project. Around 855 acres of Government land and 1,220 acres of forest land have yet to be handed over by the Jharkhand government.

Clearances for diversion of forest land for the project were received between February and November 2010. The state government is yet to approve the transfer of possession of land to the project.