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Gas-based power projects to be exempted from green cess

As per the existing thermal power policy, the thermal power plants have to contribute six paise to the fund for every unit of power sold outside the state

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Jayajit Dash Bhubaneswar
In a bid to pull investment proposals from gas-based developers in power sector, the state energy department is planning to exempt them from contributing to the energy management fund meant for power sold outside the state.

As per the existing thermal power policy, the thermal power plants have to contribute six paise to the fund for every unit of power sold outside the state. The decision to float the fund was mooted in 2006 and the forest department in January 2012 has been designated as the nodal department for managing the fund.

However, the energy department in its draft comprehensive thermal power policy- 2013 has made it a point to exclude the gas based power projects for contributing to the fund

"The idea is to incentivise developers to set up gas-based power projects in the state. This is logically right since these power stations need far less land and are comparatively low on pollution compared to the coal-based plants”, said an official source.

Like thermal power plants, the gas based power projects will be required to sell 12 per cent power to the state grid at variable cost as per the draft policy.

The lone proposal for establishment of a power plant based on natural gas has come from JGreen Power Pvt Ltd with registered office at Balasore.  The company has evinced interest in setting up an LNG based power plant at Dhamra banking on gas supplies from the five million tonne LNG terminal proposed at the same location by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL). The power project that involves a cost of Rs 3106 crore will make use of Japanese technology and needs barely 37 acres of land.

JGreen has submitted its combined application form and techno-economic feasibility study report to the state's investment promotion agency, Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).

A team of officials of JGreen recently visited many sites around the Dhamra port to choose a suitable location for the project. Apart from holding discussions with Santosh K Mohapatra, chief executive officer of Dhamra port, the company officials met the representatives of the North Odisha Chamber of Commerce and Industries (NOCCI)-Balasore.
 

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First Published: Sep 25 2013 | 8:19 PM IST

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