Gujarat offers 4 sites for setting up UMPPs

Gujarat has offered four sites to the Power Ministry to construct two ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each in the western state.

The government is planning to add five more such projects to its existing list of nine UMPPs in the country, which would help in the capacity addition programme in the XIIth Plan Period (2012-17).

"Three UMPPs are coming up in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, five new such projects are in the pipeline," a power ministry official said.

Two more such projects are likely to come up in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where Reliance Power is executing one at Krishnapatnam. And one more each in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.

"Gujarat (government) has shortlisted four sites for setting up two UMPPs in the state, we have to choose now," he said.

Tata Power is already executing a UMPP at Mundra in Gujarat. The 800 MW unit of this power project is expected to come up during the current plan period (2007-12).

The government has so far allotted four UMPPs to the successful bidders. Tata Power got one project -- Mundra (Gujarat) while Reliance Power bagged three such projects -- Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya in Jharkhand.

It has also invited the initial bids for the UMPPs in Chhattisgarh (Sarguja) and Orissa (Bedabahal).

The preliminary bids for the projects in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra may be invited this fiscal.

Power Ministry has earmarked a capacity addition target of 1,00,000 MW in the next plan period of which a major chunk would come from these UMPPs.

The current power generation capacity of the country stands at about 1,57,000 MW.