The Union Power Ministry may invite qualifying bids for only one ultra mega power project before the end of the current fiscal, a senior official said.
The Union Power Ministry had earlier this year identified sites for developing the 4,000-Mw Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The government was supposed to issue RFQs (Requests for Qualifications) for Cheyyur UMPP in Tamil Nadu, Akaltara in Chhattisgarh and Bedabahal in Orissa, before March 2010.
"By the end of this financial year, (invitation of RFQs in) only Tamil Nadu may happen," Power Ministry Additional Secretary Gireesh B Pradhan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.
Pradhan did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay in inviting the bids.
However, Power Finance Corp, the nodal agency for awarding the UMPPs said last week that all three projects faced the hurdle of land acquisition.
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The government has so far awarded four UMPPs, three of which have been bagged by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm Reliance Power in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Tata Power is developing the fourth one at Mundra in Gujarat.