PFC shortlists all bidders for 2 UMPPs

List of bidders includes NTPC Ltd, Tata Power, NHPC, Adani Power, JSW Energy and Jindal Power, among others

Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the power ministry’s arm managing the bidding for ultra mega power projects (UMPPs), on Monday said it had shortlisted all the 17 initial bidders for two such projects of 4,000-Megawatt each, to come up in Odisha and Tamil Nadu.

“Based on evaluation, all the nine applicants for the Odisha UMPP and eight applicants for the Cheyyur UMPP which have applied for requests for qualification (RFQs) have been shortlisted for issuance of requests for proposal,” PFC said.

The Odisha UMPP is a pit-head power project, based on domestic coal to be sourced from allocated captive coal blocks, with an expected investment of around Rs  25,000 crore. Companies that have expressed interest in the project include NTPC Ltd, Tata Power, NHPC, Adani Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Power, Sterlite Infraventures, CLP India and Larsen & Toubro.

The Cheyyur UMPP is a coastal project based on imported coal, with an expected investment of over Rs 24,200 crore. Eight companies, Adani Power, CLP India, GMR Energy, Jindal Power, JSW Energy, L&T, NTPC, and Sterlite Infraventures, had applied for the project.

PFC had taken up bidding for the two UMPPs on a fast track in September. Orissa Integrated Power and Coastal Tamil Nadu Power, wholly-owned subsidiaries of PFC, are conducting the bidding process. The RFQs were issued in September.

Applications for pre-qualification were opened last month. The evaluation of the applications was done by a committee headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General V K Shunglu.