Thermal Power Plants in Private Sector
‘Only one may come up in time’
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 24
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been claiming the state becoming power surplus in three to four years, but PSEB engineers claimed the chance of only one of the four “dream” private thermal plant projects seeing the light of day by 2012 was remote.

The Board Engineers Association, in a letter to the Chief Minister, which has been uploaded on its website, claims for a turn around in the board the state should also to take up the establishment of thermal plants for which funds can be raised by reducing power purchase and introducing nominal tariff for agricultural sector.

The association claims the PSEB be allowed to establish the 1,320 MW Rajpura thermal plant project for which Rs 270 crore is needed over four years. It says it will be easy for a government, ready to pay annual subsidy of Rs 2,600 crore to the PSEB, to arrange this money.

Only one company, Lanco, has responded with tariff of Rs 3.38, which will now be decided by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC). It has also proposed to take up the 2,640 MW Gidderbaha plant as joint venture with the NTPC.
Association president HS Bedi said the letter stated out of the other three projects given to the private sector, the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant awarded to Vedanta group was yet to start with the group announcing cut in investment. The GVK project at Goindwal Sahib was also having disputes with the company approaching the Appellate Tribunal against the PSERC decision on capital cost. The Gidderbaha project was yet to take off after receiving poor response from the bidders.
Quoting official data of the Central Electricity Authority, the association maintained only the 540 MW Goindwal Sahib plant had been included in the list of projects likely to be completed before March 2012.

The association also suggested establishment of a 1,000 MW gas power station at Doraha. It proposes saving from over Rs 6,000 crore annual power purchase bill, imposing a nominal cess of 10 paise per unit and utilisation of Rs 650 crore electricity duty.