Coal block allocation not delaying power projects: Govt

The 4,000 MW capacity ultra mega power projects in the country are not getting delayed due to allocation of coal blocks, Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal informed Parliament today.

"There is no delay in commissioning of ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) due to reasons attributable to problems in the allocation of coal blocks," he said in the Lok Sabha.

For pit-head UMPPs or where the coal mines are attached to the projects one of the pre-requisite for calling Request for Qualification (RFQ) is allocation of coal block by Ministry of Coal, Venugopal said.

And since the coal blocks are allocated even before the initiation of bidding process, the delay could not occur for want of allocation of coal block, he added.

However, he said that the last date of submission of RFQs for Chhattisgarh has been extended nine times as the coal blocks of these UMPPs were categorised as No-Go area by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The last date of submission of RFQ for the Chhattisgarh is December 5.

However, in view of the decision of Group of Ministers (GoM) on environmental and development issues, relating to coal mining and other development projects, to do away with the go/no-go concept, the MOEF has been requested to clarify the matter for proceeding ahead with the bidding process of Chhattisgarh UMPP.

At present, the preliminary bids for the Bedabahal UMPP in Orissa have been invited and as many as 20 bidders have evinced interest in setting up the project.