Faced with acute shortage of power and fuel and various issues impeding development of the power sector, the government on Tuesday hinted that it would soon come out with new bidding norms for new power projects after holding talks with the stakeholders.
Addressing a press conference here, Minister of State for Power Jyotirditya Scinda said he would hold talks with stakeholders during the next two weeks and finalise the Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) that had been in the works for a long time now. He also indicated that a plan was underway to strengthen the electricity grid system and move was afoot to grant the status of regulator to Power Operations Systems Company (Posoco), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL).
He said that SBDs for Case II projects would be discussed with the Power Advisory Group before finalising the same. In Case II, a thermal project is awarded along with captive coal blocks to meet its fuel requirements. The more than 20-member Advisory Group includes leading industrialists Reliance Energy Chairman Anil Ambani, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and Lanco Chairman G. M. Rao.
Mr. Scindia, who completed 100 days in office on Tuesday, said fuel supply agreements for about 21,000 MW had been inked in 100 days and another 14,000 MW was expected to be signed by the end of March. “We are working on a plan to give full independence to Posoco and make it an independent regulator during the next one year,” he added.
He said that about 2,600 MW hydro power projects had received environmental clearances in recent times. India is expected to see a capacity addition of about 88,000 MW in the XII Plan (2012-17).
