Union Power Minister Veerappa Moily, on Friday, said that the Government was open to suggestions from the various stakeholders before it came out with the new bidding documents for power projects.
“The standard bidding documents (SBDs) are being finalised. Whatever suggestions and comments pour in, we will deliberate and reflect on them. We are open to change for a better and transparent system,” Mr. Moily told reporters on the sidelines of a R&D conclave.
“According to some media reports, these SBDs are destructive and intrusive. All those allegations are not correct. If there is any apprehension, we will rectify it,” he said . As per the provisional SBDs, there would be no change in the bidding norms for the power projects based on imported coal. This clause could hurt the interests of the private power producers building these projects, as imported coal has become costlier and could have an adverse impact on bidding by the private sector.
In September 2011, the Indonesian Government decided to link the fuel prices to the international market, making import of coal by Indian companies costlier. As far as domestic fuel-based projects are concerned, the draft documents have proposed separate set of bidding for coal linkage and captive coal projects.
On funding for the power projects, Mr. Moily said the de-allocated coal blocks did not figure in the list of projects for the XII Five Year Plan (2012-17). “No capacity for the next 5 years is stranded due to the de-allocated coal mines, so the Finance Ministry should not shy from giving approval fund for these projects,” he added. The government plans to add over 88,000 MW of electricity in the next five years.
