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Nava Bharat Ventures Limited, a ferro chrome producer, has blamed the state government for delay in commissioning of its power plant.
"We have synchronised the new 64 Mw power plant with OPTCL (Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd) grid system on 26 February 2013. (But) we are unable to start generation and sell power for want of Open Access permission as the MoU has not been signed with state government," said J Ramesh, executive vice president of the company in a letter addressed to the chief minister recently.
"The most ironic part to mention that in one hand Rs 250 crore investment made in the state is lying idle and on the other, the company has started paying around Rs 2 crore per month towards interest," he added.
The state government earlier this week referred the matter to Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) for enlisting the issue in next meeting of task force on power.
The company commissioned the power plant in December last year and plans to sell the generated power to outside parties as the unit has been accorded independent power producer (IPP) status. But since the government is yet to take any decision on signing of MoU for the IPP, around four years after the company's application, the plant is unable to receive open access permit.
Open access permit in a power transmission network enables industrial buyers to procure power from different distribution companies, including private generators at a negotiated and competitive price. As per the current norm, only IPPs are permitted to sell power, other than licensed power distribution companies (discoms), to industrial buyers having demand for more than 1 Mw. Captive power producers (CPP) are barred from selling power to industrial units under this norm.
Besides the 64 Mw IPP project, Nava Bharat operates another 94 Mw captive power plant, with two different units having production capacity of 64 Mw and 30 Mw in Dhenkanal district. It meets the coal requirement of its power plant through supplies from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India.
Nava Bharata also has a ferro chrome plant in the area. Since power cost comprises of nearly 35 per cent of ferro chrome production, nearly all producers rely upon own power generating source.
