Decision on Krishnapatnam UMPP today

The decision on who will construct the Krishnapatnam ultra mega power project will be taken on Thursday when the price bids of the three contenders "" Sterlite, Reliance Power and Larsen & Toubro "" will be opened, a few days ahead of the scheduled date of November 13.

The Rs 16,000 crore imported coal-based power project in Andhra Pradesh had nine qualified bidders though only three put in a firm bid.

Krishnapatnam will be the third 4,000 Mw ultra mega power project to be awarded, after Sasan in Madhya Pradesh (bagged by Reliance Energy) and Mundra in Gujarat (bagged by Tata Power). These projects are awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding.

While Sasan is a pithead coal-based project, Mundra is also based on imported coal, and seen as comparable to Krishnapatnam.

Though Tata Power bagged the Mundra project by offering to supply power at Rs 2.26 per unit last year, the price quoted for Krishnapatnam is expected to be higher as coal prices have moved up significantly over the last one year and there is a global crunch in equipment supply.

Those who stayed out of the bidding included Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, GMR-China Light and Power combine and DS Construction with Israel Electric Company, Tata Power, Essar Power and NTPC Ltd.

The idea of ultra mega power projects was floated to fast-track capacity addition under the public-private partnership route.

At last count, the government was planning 10 such projects across the country.