Govt wants to remove idlers; 11 IPPs yet to acquire any land
To remove the 'non-serious players' among the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) who had proposed to set up power projects in the state, the Orissa government will soon conduct a review on the project status of these.
This is the second time in three months that the state government is to review the headway made by IPPs. During the earlier review in the last week of May, the state energy department had pulled up three IPPs — Essar Power, Nav Bharat Power and Visa Power — for the inordinate delay in their projects.
While the state government is understood to have scrapped the deal with Essar Power, the fate of other such IPPs hangs in the balance. All the IPPs who had signed MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) with the state government, with the exception of Essar Power, have been invited for the review meeting scheduled for mid-September.
The government had signed MoUs with 27 IPPs, for a cumulative power generation capacity of 32,420 Mw, at a combined investment of Rs 1,60,000 crore. Of all these, only Sterlite Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of London-listed Vedanta Resources, has commissioned the first unit (600 Mw) of its 2,400 (4x600 Mw) power plant at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda. The company has given a commitment to the state government to offer the entire 600 Mw to the state grid by September 10.
The other IPP which has made appreciable headway in its project is Ind-Barath Energy Utkal Ltd, which had signed the MoU with the state government for setting up a 700 Mw power plant at Sahajbahal near Jharsuguda.
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It has proposed to raise the capacity to 1,360 Mw, entailing an additional investment of Rs 3,300 crore.
The expansion plan has been approved by the High Level Clearance Authority of the state government, chaired by state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Meanwhile, the company has already acquired 545 acres needed.
On the other hand, 11 IPPs are yet to acquire even a single acre of land for their proposed projects. These are Mahanadi Aban Power, Nav Bharat Power, Bhushan Energy, Essar Power, Tata Power, Astaranga Power, Chambal Infrastructure, Jindal Steel & Power, Kalinga Energy & Power, Sahara India Power and Visaka Thermal.
| THE DEFAULTERS | |
| Company/IPP Name | Capacity (Mw) |
| GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd | 1050 |
| Mahanadi Aban Power Co Ltd | 1030 |
| Nava Bharat Power (P) Ltd | 1050 |
| K V K Nilachal Power (P) Ltd | 1050 |
| Bhushan Energy Ltd | 2000 |
| CESC Ltd | 1000 |
| Essar Power Ltd | 1000 |
| Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd | 1200 |
| Lanco Babandh Power Private Ltd | 1320 |
| Monnet Power Companty Ltd | 1000 |
| Sterlite Energy Ltd | 2400 |
| Tata Power Company Ltd | 1000 |
| Visa Power Ltd | 1000 |
| Aarti Steel Ltd | 500 |
| Astaranga Power Co Ltd | 2640 |
| Chambal Infrastructure & | 1320 |
| Ind Barath Eneregy (Utkal) ltd | 700 |
| Jindal Steel & Power Ltd | 1320 |
| Kalinga Energy & Power Corpn Ltd | 1000 |
| Sahara India Power Corpn Ltd | 1320 |
| Visaka Thermal Power Pvt Ltd | 1050 |
| BGR Energy System Ltd | 1320 |
| JR Powergen Private Ltd | 1980 |
| Adhunic Power & Natural Resources Ltd | 1320 |
| Maadurga thermal Power Company Ltd | 60 |
| Vijaya Ferro & Power Private Ltd. | 120 |
| Jindal Stainless Ltd | 1320 |