Power on Wednesday said its first two units of 800 MW each of the Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Gujarat would be commissioned by early 2012 during the XI Plan itself. The company would bid for new UMPPs only when the market conditions were favourable. Talking to reporters, Tata Power Executive Director S. Ramakrishnan said the company would only bid for domestic coal-based projects as import of the dry fuel was quite expensive. “We would bid for the 4,000 MW ultra mega power projects only if it is not an imported coal-based project and the financial market should be good,” he added. “We are already importing coal for the Mundra project. We are sourcing it from Indonesia where we have 30 per cent stake in the coal blocks,” Mr. Ramakrishnan said.
Out of the five 800 MW units of the Mundra UMPP project, two (2x800 MW) are scheduled to come up during the current Plan (2007-12). The project entails an investment of Rs. 17,000 crore and is being funded on a debt and equity ratio of 75:25. He said the company cannot go in for another imported fuel-based project in the near future as imported coal was expensive. Tata Power with an installed capacity of 2,768 MW, plans to become a 12,000 MW company by 2014.
