The deadline for submitting the response to Request For Qualification (RFQ) for the 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) proposed to be set up at Bedabahal in Sundergarh district has been extended further to March 31.
The deadline for submission of response to RFQ for the UMPP has been extended five times since July last year as a patch of the coal bearing area consisting of Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks falls under the no-go area declared by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF).
Land acquisition work for the project has taken off. The UMPP, entailing an investment of Rs 16,000 crore, requires 3100 acres of land.
Water for this UMPP has been allocated from the Ib river and check dams and barrages would be set up on the river for this purpose. It may be noted that Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks have been allotted for the UMPP with a total reserve of 880 million tonnes.
Besides the Bhedabahal UMPP, it has been proposed to set up two additional UMPPs in the state.
While the Centre would set up the second UMPP in Bolangir district, five locations were identified for the third UMPP- Kirtania, Dhamara, Astaranga, Paradeep and Gopalpur. The Centre has sought additional information on the suitability of these locations.
Orissa would get 1300 MW from the first UMPP at Bhedabahal and 50 per cent of the power generated by the other two UMPPs.
The Orissa government has signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with as many as 27 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for setting up power plants with a combined capacity of 32,420 MW. The state government had asked 17 of these IPPs to go for super critical technologies.
In addition to this, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had announced to set up two new super thermal power plants in the state- 4800 MW plant at Darlipalli in Sundergarh district and one 3200 MW plant at Gajmara in Dhenkanal district.
The navratna power utility, which has an installed capacity of 3460 MW in Orissa, will pump over Rs 50,000 crore in generating additional capacity of 9320 MW in the state by the end of 2017.
Besides setting up two mega power projects at Darlipalli and Gajamara, NTPC is also scaling up the capacity of its existing thermal power station at Talcher by adding 1320 MW (2x660 MW) through two supercritical units.
