Coast clear for Orissa plant

The Orissa government has cleared the decks for setting up the Ib Valley Ultra Mega Power Plant by withdrawing its demand for free power. Orissa and Chhattisgarh wanted power from the respective Ib Valley and Akaltara UMPPs either free or at variable cost.

But with the Centre rejecting this demand, Orissa has extended its support without any pre-condition.Four other states are yet to give the necessary clearances for other projects.

"The earlier proposition by Orissa was contrary to the spirit of tariff-based bidding. However, recently the Orissa government has extended its support to the project without this pre-conditionality," power ministry sources said.

A team appointed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has already visited the state and site details are being finalised.

While the government is yet to take a decision on whether to go for a re-bid for Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh, the Mundra project in Gujarat has been handed over to Tata Power.

Of the seven other proposed sites, bidding has started only for Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilliaya (Jharkhand), officials said.

The Akaltara UMPP is not making headway due to the lack of response from the Chhattisgarh government. Girye and Tadri coastal projects in Maharashtra and Karnataka respectively are on hold for want of necessary clearances from the state governments.

"The ministry has written to the states for expediting clearances or suggesting alternate sites," they said.

The Tamil Nadu government has not agreed to locate the plant at Cheyur and has suggested Nagapatnam as an alternative. The ministry has asked the state to confirm port availability at Cheyur at first instance, the officials said.