Uttarakhand to buy 200 Mw power

Uttarakhand has decided to buy 200 Mw power from the proposed 4,000-Mw Bhedabahal ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Odisha.

The decision comes amid efforts for setting up a thermal plant outside the state, for which it has asked the Centre to allocate coal blocks.

"We have deposited Rs 35 crore for investment on land in the proposed UMPP in Odisha," said UJVN ltd Managing Director G P Patel, adding Uttarakhand will get 200 Mw from the plant.

The state-run UJVN is also looking forward to set up a 2,000-Mw plant in Jharkhand at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore.

For this, Patel had held talks with top officials of the Jharkhand State Electricity Board to explore the possibility of forming a joint venture (JV). "We are waiting for a response from the Jharkhand government," Patel told Business Standard. "Our planning to set up a thermal plant outside Uttarakhand is at a very preliminary stage. A lot of more work is required before we finalise any deal," said Patel.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain had written letters to the Union coal ministry, requesting allocation of coal blocks.

With the hydropower sector taking a beating owing to closure of a series of big hydel projects, the UJVN, having installed capacity of 1310.25 Mw, has already entered into a JV with GAIL to set up two gas-power plants at Kashipur and Haridwar. An investment of Rs 2,500 crore is proposed in the two plants with a capacity of 350 Mw each.

UJVN is also looking for capacity addition target of 582 Mw (2 large and 18 small hydel projects) by the end of 12th Plan aggregating the installed capacity of the company to 2,608 Mw.