JSW Energy for 1,320Mw plant in MP

MP to get 37 per cent of the power produced at the plant.

JSW Energy Ltd (JSWEL) has proposed to set up a 1,320-Mw power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The state government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company last week for the purpose.

JSWEL is a group company of the Jindal South West (JSW) group, headed by Sajjan Jindal.

The company is reported to have proposed a mega investment of Rs 5,500 crore in the project, which will come up in Chhindwara district. The company has already applied for coal allocation and is progressing to identify and acquire land for the thermal power project.

Sanjay Bandopadhyay, energy secretary, told Business Standard, "This plant will be based on super critical technology and will provide 37.5 per cent of the power produced at the plant to MP."

The state government had last year signed deals with various power companies for a combined capacity of 25,000 Mw. Although the power companies have yet to identify lands or acquire the land identified, small power companies like BLA Power and Today Group have reached an advanced stage to set up their power plants.

"Small companies like Mumbai-based BLA Power have completed their work to an advanced stage while companies like Jindal Photo, which has proposed 1,000 Mw, and Torrent have not started ground work. We have given them a six-month extension so that they can come up with the necessary details," he added.

Both the companies had signed a deal with the state government last January for 1,000 Mw each but failed to comply with the necessary requirement within the stipulated time of one year. "We will not entertain after the extension," Bandopadhyay added.

Madhya Pradesh is still facing a huge shortage of 1,100 Mw against the peak demand of 6,100 Mw as the production (thermal and hydro) is still restricted to 5,000 Mw.

State-owned power plants namely the 1,000-Mw Indira Sagar and 520-Mw Omkareshewar are producing 500 Mw and 104 Mw respectively on account of low water availability and a court restriction on reservoir level.