The Maharashtra government has offered some respite for the troubled Dabhol Power Project by agreeing to provide a guarantee for a Rs 300 crore
Planning Commission to ask Prime Minister's Office to intervene.
This supply is likely to start in the next few weeks. A proposal to hive off the terminal was turned down by the government last year after it was opposed by NTPC Ltd and Gail, which hold 28 per cent each in the project. The terminal has an LNG regassification capacity of five million tonnes per annum. It will, however, be fully operational only after the completion of the breakwater facilities in 2011.
The government may revive a proposal limiting the number of Ultra Mega Power Projects awarded per developer.
The Tilaiya project is a part of the government's showcase UMPP scheme under which a power generation capacity of around 50,000 Mw is planned to be created through 13 of such mega projects, which will come up mostly in the Twelfth Plan period.
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Power is likely to announce the financial closure of its 3,960-Mw Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) in a few weeks.
Amid concerns expressed by short-listed bidders over the ongoing financial crisis, the bids for the 4,000-Mw Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project in Jharkhand will be opened on December 29. "The bidding will take place as announced," said Power Secretary Anil Razdan.
Fresh addition of power capacity in the first half of the 2008-09 financial year has fallen short of target by nearly two-thirds because of delays in supply of critical components for thermal projects and non-availability of fuel for a nuclear project.
The government had earlier said it would give incentives of around Rs 12 per unit of solar power sold. Companies have, however, already lined up capacities to the tune of 3,000 Mw involving investments of around Rs 48,000 crore (Rs 480 billion). This means that of the total planned solar power capacity, only 50 Mw will be incentivised, while the rest will continue to be very expensive.
Company officials admitted that they had juxtaposed the emission data for 2005-06 with the generation data of 2007-08 to arrive at such a conclusion. This was in response to a report by Washington-based Centre for Global Development, which said NTPC was the world's third-largest polluting power producer.
Bharat Heavy Electricals, the country's largest power equipment manufacturer, is working on low margins when bidding to supply super-critical equipment for the upcoming ultra mega power projects as it has to import a substantial amount of components from Europe.
India's energy deficit is likely to improve as hydro power stations can ramp up generation on account of adequate rainfall in the last fortnight of July, wiping out the shortfall of the previous months.
Central Electricity Authority data reveal that orders for some higher capacity (500-800 Mw) equipment have not been placed.
Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), India's largest electricity transmission company, has found the installation of power transmission lines between India and Sri Lanka to be feasible, paving the way for eventual trading of electricity between countries.
Days before the national biofuel policy is taken up by the Union Cabinet, the Confederation of Indian Industries has demanded incorporation of enough "flexibility in the biofuel blending mandate" based on the availability of such fuels.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Water Resources, the water storage position in major reservoirs has gone down to a record low of 34.86 billion cubic metres (bcm) -- about 22 per cent of the total storage capacity of 151.76 bcm of all the 81 reservoirs taken together. The storage level was above 26 per cent last year. Of the total 81 reservoirs in the country, 36 have significant hydro power potential with an installed capacity of more than 60 Mw each.
"Sooner or later, a greater part of our businesses will surely be taken up by the exchange, a more transparent platform," said a senior official from PTC India Ltd, the country's largest power trading company that accounts for about a quarter of the total volume of electricity traded in the country. Interestingly, PTC is one of the co-promoters of the exchange. Another major player in the power trading sector, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, has confirmed similar apprehensions
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