Govt to set up 5 new UMPPs at Rs 1 lakh crore investment

The projects will be set up under the plug and play model

India will set up 5 more ultra mega power projects, entailing investments of around Rs 1 lakh crore, the government said today.

"Five more ultra mega power projects (UMPPs), under the plug and play model will be set up with total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his first full-year Budget for 2015-16.

UMPP is a coal-based thermal power project that has 4,000 MW generation capacity.

The minister, however, did not announce the states where these projects will be set up.

Under the "plug and play" system, coal blocks will be auctioned after they are granted various clearances to speed up and simplify mining and get better valuation, Jaitley said.

One such project is likely to be set up in power-starved state of Bihar. The proposed plant in Bihar may be fed from a mine either in Jharkhand or Odisha.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal had said in November that sufficient number of coal blocks will be allotted for the purpose.

Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is the nodal agency for UMPPs in the country.

So far, four UMPPs have been awarded, of which Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand) have been bagged by Reliance Power. Tata Power is operating the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat.