Punjab thermal power projects hanging fire

Punjab government’s ambitious plan to add 6,480 Mw in the next 4-5 years by awarding tenders to private developers for setting up thermal plants in the state is hanging fire.

The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and the state government initiated the process to develop three new thermal plants of 5,940 Mw capacity some two years ago through private developers. These projects are Talwandi Sabo (1,980 Mw), Rajpura (1,320 Mw) and Gidderbaha (2,640 Mw). This apart, the 540-Mw Goindwal Sahib was awarded to GVK during the previous government.

Of the three, only the Talwandi Sabo project has been awarded. Mumbai-based Sterlite Energy Ltd, part of Sterlite Industries India Ltd bagged the project by quoting the lowest bid price of Rs 2.86 per unit as levelised tariff for 25 years.

 

It is worth mentioning that the PSEB had extended the date for submission of RFQ (request for qualification) documents for setting up the coal-based Gidderbaha project on build-own-operate (BOO) basis in Punjab for the fourth time in a row due to non-allocation of coal linkages. The board extended the last date to July 16 from April 16 for submission of RFQ. Initially, the last date for submission was December 19, 2008.

Similarly, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, did not approve the price negotiated by the state Cabinet and Lanco Infratech, the sole bidder for the Rajpura thermal plant. The final negotiated rate was Rs 3.30 Kwh. However, the commission observed that the final negotiated rate was very high as compared with the tariff quoted by Sterlite for Talwandi Sabo. PSEB is yet to decide the future course of action on the project. Officials apprehend the PSEB might go for rebidding.

It may be recalled that the Cabinet had already given in-principle approval to Lanco Infratech for setting up the Rajpura plant. The coal-based project would be set up on 1,078.16 acres on BOO basis.

Officials also informed that the thermal plant at Goindwal Sahib, conceived 10 years ago, is yet to see the light of the day due to some teething troubles.

In order to speed up the process, the PSEB Engineers Association has urged the Punjab government to amend its generation policy according to the prevalent conditions and new plants be commissioned under the public sector based on equity so that shortage of power in the state could be overcome.

According to PSEB officials, Punjab has an installed capacity of 6,841 Mw while the demand is about 9,000 Mw.