The site for the second Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Odisha, to come up in the western part of the state, is expected to be finalized soon.
A team of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) will visit possible sites in Kalahandi and Bolangir districts during April 24-25 to zero in on a suitable location. The Central team is likely to be accompanied by officials of the state departments of water resources, forest, revenue as well as that of state agencies- Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (Idco).
Last month, the CEA team had discussions with top state officials on selection of sites for two more UMPPs proposed in Odisha, each with capacity of 4,000 MW. One of the UMPPs would be a coastal project with Paradip and Dhamara being considered as possible locations. Union minister for power Sushilkumar Shinde said during his recent visit to the state that Odisha would get 2,000 MW from each of these two UMPPs.
Meanwhile, the bidding process has begun for the state's first UMPP with a capacity of 4,000 MW. The project will be set up at Bhedabahal in western Odisha's Sundergarh district. This UMPP would inject 1,300 MW to the state grid.
The Bhedabahal UMPP, entailing an investment of Rs 16,000 crore, needed 3,100 acres of land. The Orissa Integrated Power Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), has been named the nodal agency for implementation of UMPP in the state.
Water for this UMPP has been allocated from the Ib river and check dams and barrages would be put up on the river for this purpose. It may be noted that Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks have been alloted for the UMPP with a total reserve of 880 million tonnes. Two other subsidiaries- Sakhigopal Integrated Power Company Ltd and Ghogarpalli Integrated Power Company Ltd have also been formed by PFC for executing the other two UMPPs.
