Odisha, TN ultra mega power projects award by February

Overseas roadshow on October 25 to attract investors

After a gap of five years, the government has fast-tracked work on two ultra mega power projects (UMPPs), to come up in Odisha and Tamil Nadu. A roadshow to attract global investors is scheduled later this month, preceded by pre-application conferences and site visits.

With the government busy reworking the bidding documents, work on the ambitious UMPP scheme could not progress since the last such project — Tilaiya UMPP in Jharkhand — was bid out in 2009. The two new UMPPs, to be set up as public-private partnership (PPP) projects, involve an investment of Rs 49,400 crore.

A senior executive from Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for conducting tariff-based bidding for UMPPs, told Business Standard that the special purpose vehicle (SPV) floated for the two UMPPs had completed much of the preliminary works, including securing land, water and environment and forest clearance for the two projects. “The payment of Rs 700 crore for acquiring 3,000 acres for the Tamil Nadu UMPP and Rs 100 crore for 1,100 acres required for the Odisha UMPP has already been made. Possession of the land will be taken shortly,” he said.

PFC had issued Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) for the projects last month. With the appetite of domestic companies, the government is hoping to attract foreign investors.

“We will have two interactive sessions with investors by October 15. Site visit has been scheduled on October 19 for Odisha and October 23 for the Tamil Nadu UMPP. This will be followed by an overseas roadshow on October 25,” he added.

Reliance Power and Tata Power have bagged the four UMPPs awarded so far.

PFC plans to issue a request for proposal for the two projects in December. The financial bids would be opened in February and the letter of award issued to the winning bidders in the same month.

The Rs 24,200-crore Tamil Nadu UMPP would be located near Cheyyur village in Kancheepuram district. Power from the coastal project would be supplied to seven states including lead procurer Tamil Nadu (1,600 Mw). Major buyers include Karnataka (800 Mw), Andhra Pradesh (400 Mw), Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (300 Mw each) and Punjab (200 Mw). RFQs for the project have been issued for the first time.

The Rs 25,200-crore Odisha UMPP would be set up near Bedabahal village in Sundargarh district. The pit-head project would supply power to nine states including the lead procurer Odisha (1,300 Mw). Other buyers include Punjab (500 Mw) and Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (400 Mw each). RFQs for the project were initially issued in June 2010. The responses received were opened in August 2011. As many as 22 companies had submitted their bids for Odisha UMPP, including Jindal Power, CESC Ltd, Sterlite Energy, JSW Energy, Tata Power, NTPC Ltd, Torrent, Aditya Birla Power, L&T, Adani Power, GMR and GVK. However, the bid validity period (of three months) had to be extended six times, due to the delay in framing of new SBDs, before the new RFQs were issued last month.

PFC plans to issue request for proposals for the two projects in December. The financial bids would be opened in February next year and the Letter of Award would be issued to the winning bidders in the end of the same month.

BIG-TICKET PROJECTS

Tamil Nadu UMPP

• Rs 24,200-crore project near Cheyyur in Kancheepuram
• 1,600 Mw to be purchased by lead procurer Tamil Nadu
• Other buyers include Karnataka (800 Mw), Andhra Pradesh (400 Mw), Maharashtra (400 Mw), Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (300 Mw each) and Punjab (200 Mw)

Odisha UMPP

• Rs 25,200-crore project near Bedabahal in Sundargarh
• 1,300 Mw to be purchased by lead procurer Odisha
• Other buyers include Punjab (500 Mw), Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (400 Mw each), Tamil Nadu and UP (300 Mw each) and Chandigarh and Uttarakhand (200 Mw each).