Sarguja UMPP bid to open on March 15: Power secy

The government today said the initial bids for the 4,000-Mw ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Sarguja in Chhattisgarh will be inivited on March 15.

"The request for qualification (RFQ) or initial bids for the Sarguja UMPP will come on March 15," Power Secretary H S Brahma told reporters here.

PFC Consulting, the wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run Power Finance Corp, is the nodal agency for the UMPP.

The Power Ministry has envisaged setting up nine such projects which would add to electricity generation target of 1,00,000 Mw in the 12th Plan period (2012-17). The government has already allotted four of the total nine such projects.

Three UMPPs have been bagged by Reliance Power --Sasan (MP), Krishnapatnam (AP) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand). Tata Power is executing the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat, the first 800 Mw unit of which will be commissioned by the end of the 11th Plan (2007-12).

The government has set a goal of adding 78,000 Mw capacity during the current Plan period.