Private power cos to meet FinMin officials tomorrow

Private sector power producers will meet Finance Ministry officials tomorrow to discuss ways to unclog projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore that are stuck due to factors like fuel supply constraints.
"As many as 1,00,000 MW of both coal and gas based projects are suffering due to raw material shortage and have time and cost overruns due to which Rs 5 lakh crore investment in the sector is stuck," Ashok Khurana, Director General, Association of Power Producers' (APP) told PTI.
APP represents 20 private power generation companies.
The meeting is expected to address issues affecting projects which have cost and time overruns, plants where there are under recoveries of fixed and variable cost and the projects which do not have PPAs (power purchase agreements).

"We are hoping to find some solution to our problems," Khurana said, adding that the sector is in a limbo due to coal and gas shortage.
As per latest official data, 61 thermal power stations of the total 103 projects are grappling with critical coal shortage with less than a week's stock at their disposal.
State-run NTPC's generating stations with nil stocks include Indira Gandhi thermal plant in Haryana, Rihand, Singrauli and Tanda in Uttar Pradesh and Vindhayachal in Madhya Pradesh.
As many as 8,500 MW gas-based power plants are stranded due to fuel shortage. NTPC, which has gas-based plants of around 4,000 MW, is running the stations at less than 40 per cent capacity.