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Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that the Government can't frame policies or change the bidding process based on the availability of a few bidders.
"If anyone does not want to bid for the ultra mega power projects then so be it," Goyal said after a meeting with the Association of Power Producers on Friday.
Ultra mega power projects
The Minister's statement comes after major power producers like Adani Power, Tata Power, JSW Energy, CLP Energy, GMR Energy, Reliance Power and others represented by the Association of Power Producers said that further participation in the bidding of 4,000 MW UMPPs in Tamil Nadu and Odisha would not be possible under the current mechanism of design, built, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) model.
DBFOT model
The power producers had written to Goyal through the association stating that it would be difficult to participate beyond the pre-qualification stage in the current DBFOT form citing complexities in the transfer process and difficulties in financing of such projects.
Goyal, however, added that the Government is open to views and suggestions of the industry and will incorporate changes wherever possible.
CERC expresses reservations
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has also stated its reservations against the DBFOT model in the past stating that such model of bidding is more suited for natural monopoly businesses like road, transport, transmission and distribution. CERC has in the past recommended a Build-Own-Operate model for bidding of UMPPs.
Goyal said that he will be meeting with bankers on Monday to resolve the conflict between the power sector borrowers and bankers. The Association of Power Producers is also set to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley later today.
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