• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Pratim Ranjan Bose

Kolkata, May 23 ONGC seems to have made some progress in awarding EPC contracts for implementing the 740-MW gas-based ONGC Tripura Power.

The energy major is now to set to open financial bids for the EPC contract by mid-June.

BHEL and Alstom are the contenders for the contract.

The Rs 3000-crore thermal project is the single largest proposed industrial investment in the entire North-eastern region.

“The power project is on course and we are expecting to open financial bids by middle of next month,” an ONGC source told Business Line.

He, however, denied in setting any timeframe for award of the contracts at this juncture.

“It is a challenging project and the prospective contractors had many queries regarding the project implementation from ONGC, the Government of Tripura and the Union Government. Things are now gaining pace and we are hopeful to award the contracts in due course,” he added.

The inadequate road network makes the project implementation extremely challenging.

As things stand now, India should either improve the road conditions — especially between Karimgunj in Assam and the project site at Palatana in Tripura — to ensure transportation of equipment, each weighing approximately 280-300 tonne, or secure permission from the Bangladesh Government for transit through waterway from Kolkata to Asugunj in Bangladesh.

Problems notwithstanding, if the project is implemented it would leave a major impact on ONGC’s bottomline due to monetisation of gas in Tripura.

The low price regime, which is lower than even APM gas, and the lack of demand has prevented ONGC from bringing the larger part of the identified reserves in the State into production.

Needless to say, the project would bring a major change in the investment-starved Tripura.

More Stories on : Petroleum | New Projects | Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Bengal sets up panel to look into fire prevention measures

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line