Empowered group of ministers fails to decide Sasan project's fate

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) set up to resolve the impasse over the 4,000 Mw Sasan ultra mega power project in Madhya Pradesh failed to reach a decision at a meeting held today.

The first meeting of the EGoM was held on Wednesday and today's was the second for the group. The group had decided to meet again on July 2, said Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Besides Shinde, the EGoM includes Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister HR Bhardwaj, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The EGoM has to decide whether Lanco Infratech and Jindal Steel & Power are eligible to build the Rs 16,000 crore pithead coal-based project.

The Lanco-Globeleq Singapore consortium won the bid for the Sasan project after outbidding eight companies by quoting the lowest tariff of Rs 1.19 per unit. However, the project became controversial after Prince Stone Investments, the Mauritius-based holding company of Lanco, and Jindal Steel & Power together acquired Globeleq Singapore in February.

It was also alleged that Lanco-Globeleq "misrepresented" information to be able to qualify to bid for the project "" a charge refuted by the company.

Sources said the EGoM discussed the report of Attorney General Milon K Banerjee, which had said the change in ownership of the Lanco-Globeleq consortium was not permissible under the bidding norms for the project.