The Hindu Business Line : BPL to take up Ramagundam coal plant with new terms

Hyderabad, Dec. 17 After years of uncertainty, BPL’s proposed coal-based plant at Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh is now set for implementation with the project size going up from 520 MW to 600 MW with revised terms of implementation.

The State Cabinet formally approved the revised terms of the project and permitted the company to enhance its size from 2x260 MW to 2x300 MW with a cap on per megawatt cost of Rs 4.76 crore.

Briefing newspersons here on Monday after the State Cabinet meeting, the State Energy Minister, Mr Mohd Ali Shabbir, said that the project has received fresh lease of life following the recommendation of an expert committee appointed to reconsider the project proposal. This was formally approved by the Cabinet.

The BPL project secured Government approval in 1994 and found the going tough with regulatory clearances. However, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission yet again gave approval for the project in 2002.

Since the company failed to achieve financial closure by 2004, AP Transco terminated its PPA. In the meantime, the State Government sought Union Government approval to reallocate this power project execution to AP Genco. However, this got embroiled in legal issues.

With the intervention of the Union Government, the State Government has decided to reallocate the power project to BPL with new set of terms, wherein the company would supply power at Rs 1.88 per unit at a levellised tariff.

However, with the dollar slipping against the rupee, per unit cost has come down to Rs 1.79 a unit. This is because the dollar rate was Rs 43 when this PPA was considered. This has meant a saving of about 9 paise per unit that works out to about Rs 176 crore overall.

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