Bajaj Hindusthan’s Lalitpur power generation company has requested coal linkage for its upcoming 1980 MW thermal power project at Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. In a letter to the Centre, the Company informed that long term PPA for the entire power has been tied up on cost plus basis with UP discoms and as per assessment of Central Electricity Authority,1320 MW of this project is expected to be commissioned by March 2015 and balance 660 mw by June 2015.
In the letter, the Company officials highlighted that currently Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is examining the issue of price pooling of coal and supply of domestic coal for the projects aggregating to 82,660 MW. Out of this, there is a capacity of 4,660 MW which have not been issued Letter of Assurance (LoA) but which would be commissioned by March 2015 and have long term PPA tied up. Two units of Lalitpur TPP aggregating to 1320 MW are included in this 4,660 MW capacity. However, apprehensions have been raised in allocating coal to these projects as against the 30,000 MW capacity which have been issues LoA but have defaulted in meeting the timelines as per terms and conditions of the LoAs.
The letter notes that at the Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting last month on issues related to the supply of coal, it was noted that most of this 30,000 MW capacity were not likely to be commissioned in the 12th Plan and some of these projects could even slip to the 14th Plan period. It was recommended that plants which are commissioned or are at advanced stage should have priority over these projects.
In view of this, the Company requested that 1320 MW capacity of Lalitpur thermal power plant which is included in the 4,660 MW capacity that is under consideration of the CCEA, be approved long term supply of domestic coal to enable it to add 1320 MW of power to the grid at regulated tariff. It also stated that it is not legally tenable to keep on extending the LoAs of the plants indefinitely at the cost of the 12th Plan projects which have made significant progress in implementation.
Lalitpur thermal power project envisages construction of three supercritical units of 660 MW each. The Plant is being implemented at village Mirchwara and Burogaon of district Lalitpur. The company has placed on BHEL in March 2011 for Design, Engineering, Supply and Commissioning of the project for Boiler and Turbine-Generator Package on EPC basis. Award for Balance of Plants has recently been placed with Alstom T&D. The total cost for the project has been estimated at Rs.5 ,450 crore.
