Karnataka government looking at legal action against Udupi Power Corporation.

The Karnataka government is mulling legal action against the Lanco Infratech-owned Udupi Power Corporation (UPCL) if it does not resume power generation at its 1,200 MW thermal plant in coastal Karnataka.

The private developer has stopped generation since June 14 citing lack of money to buy coal. Its two 600 MW units are fired on Indonesian coal, and they generate 25-26 million units a day at 85% plant load factor. 'We have cleared their bills from time to time, and had even released an advance of Rs. 200 crore. I don't know where they spent that money.

Now they have stopped generation all of a sudden,' Karnataka's energy minister DK Shivakumar told ET. If the firm continued with the shutdown, then the government will issue a notice and take action as per the law, he added.Lanco Infratech, the listed infrastructure developer which owns UPCL, is headed by L Lagadapati Madhusudhan Rao, the Andhra Pradesh-born businessman, and brother of former Congress MP L Rajagopal.

ET