Panel to consider green nod to 4,000 MW project in Bihar

A high-level panel will next week consider a proposal recommending green clearance to 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project in Bihar.
"The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) (Thermal Power) will meet on May 5 to consider the proposal of recommending green clearance to 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP)," an official said.
The UMPP is proposed to be set up near Kakwara village in Banka district of Bihar.
In this regard, Bihar Mega Power Limited (BMPL), a wholly- owned subsidiary of PFC Ltd, has been formed to carry out detailed studies and establish the project through private developers to be selected through competitive bidding, the official said.

Bihar is one of the power-starved states in the country with high potential for development. The proposed UMPP will play a key role in providing the much-needed power to overcome the shortfall as well as in spurring all round economic development in the state, the official added.
The Union Cabinet is likely to soon give green signal to standard bid document which will facilitate auctioning of domestic coal-based four or five UMPPs, entailing an investment of Rs 30,000 crore each.

The Cabinet clearance will enable auctioning of the UMPPs in the current fiscal which include Banka in Bihar and Tilaiya in Jharkhand.

Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal recently said: "Tilaiya UMPP has to be bid out again. Banka UMPP has to be bid out. There is a project in Andhra Pradesh that would also be bid out. I think there would be one in Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu. Four or five are on the anvil."
The Power Ministry is also in the process of finalising the standard bid document for imported coal-based UMPPs. Once that is done, UMPPs like Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu can go under the hammer.
Earlier, the bid document for domestic coal could not be put up before the Cabinet due to some legal glitch. Government had planned to float tenders for three UMPPs in 2015-16.