20 bidders qualify for next round for Orissa's UMPP

NEW DELHI: All the 20 power companies, including Tatas, NTPC and Lanco, which had submitted bids for the 4,000 MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Orissa are believed to have qualified for the second round, which starts in October.

They have qualified for submitting the technical and financial bid for the estimated Rs 20,000 crore UMPP at Bedabahal in Orissa.

"All the 20 companies have qualified to bid in the next round," a source said. "The RFP (Request for Proposal) will be floated next month," he added.

So far, four UMPPs have been awarded, with Reliance Power bagging three - Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand) - and Tata Power executing the fourth one at Mundra in Gujarat.

Ministry of Power plans to set up 16 UMPPs over a period of time to overcome electricity shortage in the country.

The RFQ or the Request for Qualification for this UMPP opened in July.

The other companies that submitted bids are L&T, JSW Energy, Nalco, Welspun Energy, AES India, Torrent Power, Jindal Power, GVK Energy Ventures, Lanco Hydro Power Ventures, GMR Energy, Senator Energy, Jaiprakash Power Ventures, Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation, CESC, Jindal Power, Sterlite Energy, Essar Group firm Vadinar Power Company and Aditya Birla Power Venture. The UMPP at Orissa is the fifth in the series.