Adani, Jindal, GMR opt out of Odisha, TN ultra power projects

AT PRESENT, THERE ARE FOUR UMPPS IN INDIA — THREE ARE OPERATED BY RELIANCE POWER AND ONE BY TATA POWER

NEW DELHI: Adani, Jindal Power, Sterlite and GMR have pulled out of the race for ultra-mega power projects (UMPP) in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, leaving only state-run NTPC in the fray for the proposed 4,000 Mega Watt plants.

“Adani, Jindal Power, Sterlite and GMR had purchased RFP (Request for Proposal) documents but the four have now submitted letters to Power Finance Corporation stating that they are withdrawing from the further bid process,” an official said. The official, however, did not specify the reason for withdrawal.

Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is the nodal agency for UMPPS in the country.

For the Odisha UMPP, NTPC, NHPC, Tata, Adani, JSW Energy, Jindal Power, Sterlite, CLP and L&T were among the pre-qualified firms while for the Cheyyur (Tamil Nadu) UMPP, NTPC, Adani, CLP, GMR, Jindal, JSW Energy, Sterlite, L&T were among the pre-qualified parties.

Odisha UMPP is a pit-head power project – a power plant that is based at the coal mine itself – and is expected to cost around 25,000 crore. The Cheyyur UMPP is a coastal power project, based on imported coal, with an expected investment of about ₹24,200 crore.

The preliminary bids for these projects were invited last year, after the government revised the existing Standard Bidding Documents (SBDS).

Under the revised norms, any escalation in cost of fuel will be passed on to the consumer as higher tariff and the companies executing the projects will have to mandatorily source equipment from domestic manufacturers.

A UMPP is a power plant with atleast 4,000 MWS of power generation capacity. So far there are four UMPPS in India of which three are operated by Reliance Power and one by Tata Power.