Bid submission date for Mundra project extended

After repeatedly turning down requests for extension of the bid submission deadline for two ultra mega power projects, the power ministry has decided to relax the date for at least one "" the Mundra project in Gujarat.

"We have decided to extend the November 22 deadline by a couple of weeks, though the deadline for the award of project to the successful bidder remains December 31," Power Secretary R V Shahi said.

Some data on port charges was given to qualified bidders only yesterday, and more time needed to be allowed for them to process it.

The bid submission deadline for the other project "" Sasan in Madhya Pradesh "" may also see a deferment as it is strategically better to receive the bids on one day, rather than let one cannibalise the other, which may happen in case the dates for the two projects are different.

There are about a dozen qualified bidders for these two projects, of 4,000 Mw each, with some of them like Tata Power Company, Torrent Power AEC, Reliance Energy Generation, AES India, CLP Power India, L&T, and Essar Power bidding for both.

Shell companies have already been floated for these projects and preliminary power purchase agreements have also been signed with the buying utilities.

While there have been concerns about payment securities for such large projects, Shahi said, "payment security for new capacities is no longer an issue."

From 75 per cent payment of dues to generating companies in 2001-02, the figure went up to 95 per cent in 2002-03 and since then "payments are literally for 100 per cent of bills, not only to power companies but also coal companies and railways," he said.