Against the backdrop of a work boycott by power employees demanding pay revision, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) has extended the financial bid date for the Bara thermal power plant in Allahabad to January 19.
This is the third time the bid date has been extended owing to a lack of enthusiasm among bidders and difficult economic conditions. The power stir is an additional reason this time.
Earlier, the bid date was extended from November 30 to December 15, 2008 and later to January 5, 2009. Nine companies including National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Indiabulls, JP, Lanco, GVK, L&T, Adani, Reliance and Isolux are in the fray.
The government wants to set up a 1,980-Mw thermal power plant at Bara, based on energy-efficient Super Critical Technology.
“We have extended the bid date to January 19,” Corporation Managing Director Avnish Kumar Awasthi told Business Standard.
The power workers have been on strike since January 2, demanding revision of pay scale and arrears according to the Sixth pay commission report.
“The stir will continue till January 8,” Power Employees Joint Action Committee spokesperson Shailendra Dubey said, adding, they will take recourse to tougher stance if the state government did not relent.
UPPCL fears that in the prevailing economic situation, the bidders would quote higher price for supplying the electricity and the corporation is buying time.
Meanwhile, the fate of another 1,320-Mw plant at Karchhna in Allahabad hangs in balance due to a steeper tariff-based bid by JP Group than the earlier two bids of Lanco and Reliance, which were rejected for being higher.
In November 2008, JP had emerged as the lowest bidder for Karchhna quoting Rs 2.97 per unit. However, the bid was 37 paise higher than the earlier rejected bids.
UP Energy Task Force (ETF) is in a dilemma, whether to seek fresh bidding for Karchhna, since JP has declined to revise its bid citing difficult market situation. Now, the government is awaiting financial bidding for the 4,000-Mw Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Jharkhand. The technical bids were opened in the last week of December 2008.
Five companies, including NTPC, Reliance, Jindal Power, Sterlite Energy and Lanco have submitted bids for the long delayed project. The final financial bids are likely to be opened by January 15, 2009. “This might allow the ETF to justify the higher bid by the JP Group for Karchhna and the subsequent financial bid for Bara,” sources said.
