Tilaiya power project bids to be extended

Mumbai: The Union Power Ministry has decided to extend the deadline for submission of Request for Proposal (RFP) bids for the 4,000-MW Tilaiya ultra mega power project in Jharkhand by a month in the light of the various issues raised by the bidders.

The last date for submission of RFP bids was November 4.

Eleven companies, including top names such as Reliance Power, Tata Power and NTPC, are in the race for the Tilaiya project, which is the third of the ultra mega power projects being set up.

Confirming the ministry’s decision to extend the deadline, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Union Minister of Power, told reporters on the sidelines of the 10th Power India summit that the decision was not a fall-out of any credit crunch the bidders were facing.

“The bidders had some issues to be resolved and due to this we decided to extend the deadline by a month. Now, they will have to submit their bids by early December,” he said.

Earlier, speaking at the summit, the Minister said close on the heels of the public private partnership initiatives for the Tala transmission lines from Bhutan, documents have now been finalised for inviting bids for transmission lines already identified by an empowered committee.

“This bid process is expected to kick off soon,” he said.

On capacity addition, he pointed out that during the Tenth Plan, India could add only 21,180 MW against the target of 41,110 MW.

“This means, we have to cover the shortfall of the Tenth Plan in addition to what was envisaged for the Eleventh Plan,” he said, adding that against the capacity addition of 77,000 MW envisaged in the 11th Plan, about 12,000 MW is already commissioned and about 65,000 MW is under construction.

Later, Mr Rakesh Nath, Chairman of Central Electricity Authority, told reporters that a model contract for hydro power projects will beunveiled soon to facilitate faster settlement of contractual disputes and ensure equal sharing of risks between the contractor and the project developer.

'We have already prepared the draft paper on the model contract and on November 10 we will hold a meeting with various stakeholders to discuss the draft. In the next three months, we will be able to submit a detailed proposal to the Government,' he said.

On fuel supply, Mr. Nath said the Government has approved supply of 18 mmscmd of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin from early next year for the power sector, which will boost additional capacity generation. The Power Ministry was requesting for additional gas allocation to the tune of another 32 mmscmd.