The Ministry of Power will award seven more ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) of more than 1000 megawatts each to private companies during the XIth Five year plan, said Sushil Kumar Shinde, Power Minister on Thursday.
Of these two projects, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tiliya in Jharkhand will be awarded before end of 2007.
At a ceremony to hand over the letter of intent (LoI) of the first two UMPPs at Sasan and Mundra, Shinde said the government would invite private companies through a competitive bidding process.
Lanco Infratech was given the LoI for Sasan and Tata Power the LoI for Mundra. Power secretary RV Shahi, speaking on the occasion, said, “Financial closure should not be a problem for the projects. Last week it has been agreed that inter-institutional groups will remain active to help in financial closure.”
Encouraged by the transparent procedure adopted and the award of the LoI as per schedule, Shahi said, other states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh had also shown keen interest in the setting up of UMPPs in their states. “If the interest materializes into reality, then the country can expect a power addition of 10-12,000 megawatt, since each project would be able to generate in the range of 1000-1,600 MW,” said Shahi.
The nine UMPPs would need an investment of about Rs 1,60,000 crore.
{{/usCountry}}The nine UMPPs would need an investment of about Rs 1,60,000 crore.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on the sidelines of the function Shinde said that in order to give thrust to hydropower in the country, the Cabinet will soon take up new hydropower policy and will take steps to make it more attractive for private players to enter the sector.
He said an all out effort to enhance the power generation is critical to meet the capacity addition target of 1,00,000 MW to achieve the mission of 'Power for All by 2012'.