Initial bids for Orissa UMPP to be invited by May-end

Initials bids for the Rs 20,000 crore ultra-mega power project (UMPP) in Orissa will be invited as per schedule, as the Power Ministry has made it clear that it will not be bound by the conditional clearance granted to the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Preliminary bids for the 4,000-Mw UMPP at Bedabahal in Orissa may be invited by the end of this month.

"We are hopeful that this time the bids (for Orissa UMPP) may not get delayed... They would come this month-end," a Power Ministry official told PTI.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests had given clearance to implement the 4,000-Mw in Orissa if the other two thermal projects -- state-run NTPC's proposed plant and Orissa government's project in that area -- do not come up.

The Power Ministry communicated to the Ministry of Environment and Forests last month that it is not ready to forego any of the three power projects envisaged in the vicinity of the coal blocks.

The Environment Ministry is of the view that the coal reserves were sufficient only for developing one project.

It had said that the coal from the three coal blocks allotted to the UMPP -- Meenakshi, Meenakshi B and the dipside of Meenakshi -- can be utilised for only one power project.

Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for implementation of ultra-mega power projects in the country, has already postponed the process of inviting preliminary bids for the Orissa UMPP to May, 2011.

The MoEF had categorised three coal blocks allotted to the UMPP project in "no-go" areas, which means mining cannot take place in these areas, as it may cause damage to the environment.

This had resulted in delays in the bidding process for the project, which also received a tepid response from developers, as there was uncertainty over the future of these projects.

The government has so far allotted four UMPPs, of which three -- Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand) -- have been bagged by Reliance Power and the one at Mundra in Gujarat by Tata Power.

These UMPPs are expected to contribute significantly toward the government's ambitious plan of adding about 1,00,000 Mw of electricity in the next Five-Year Plan (2012-17).