Government to auction 3 ultra mega power projects by March

The government will auction three ultra mega power projects, to be set up in three states of Bihar, Odisha and Tamil Nadu with an investment of over Rs 80,000 crore, by March this year.

Power Secretary P K Pujari on Thursday said that there will be auction of "three UMPPs by March definitely".

"These are Banka in Bihar, Bedabahal in Odisha, and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu," Pujari told reporters on the sidelines of the India Investment Summit 2016.

The Secretary, however, said that the Cheyyur UMPP is based on imported coal but there is a possibility of putting the project on the block.

"The bid document for the domestic coal has been finalised and will soon be put for Union Cabinet approval," he said.

As per the standard procedure, the bid document has be in place for auctioning a project. The document for imported coal is also being finalised by the ministry which will be sent for Cabinet approval.

The investment for an UMPP of 4,000 MW has been revised from Rs 20,000 crore to about Rs 27,000 crore recently on basis of rise in the price of coal and land. Thus the three projects entails an investment of over Rs 80,000 crore.

Government had aborted bidding for Cheyyur (Tamil Nadu) and Bedabahal (Odisha) in January last year due to tepid response from private sector.

Private firms, which had participated in the first round of bidding for both the projects, withdrew their bids citing difficulties in securing finances for these projects.