Mumbai firm bags 3 hydro projects
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 22
Mumbai-based ship manufacturing and repairing company ABG Shipyard Limited has bagged three out of the last five remaining hydroelectric projects in the state for which bids were invited last year.

A new entrant into the power sector, the company quoted the highest free power, over and above the mandatory free power to be provided as royalty, to secure the 126 MW Bardang project, 102 MW Rashil project and 104 MW Tandi project in the Chenab basin. As many as 13 companies were in race for the projects with aggregate capacity of 496 MW.

The 104-MW Lara Sumta project in Spiti valley was bagged by Calcutta Electricity Company and the 60-MW Patam project by Chandigarh-based Surya Pharmaceutical Company.

The average free power offered for the five projects, over and above the mandatory 12 per cent (for the first 12 years), 18 per cent (next 18 years) and 30 per cent (remaining 12 years) to be provided as royalty came to 10.5 per cent as against the average of 15.5 per cent for the 14 projects allotted last year on the basis of free-power based bidding.

The highest free power of 12.64 per cent was quoted for the Patam project to be developed as a run-of-the river scheme on Patam Nallah, a tributary of the Chenab, to generate 286 MU of energy annually.

The free power quoted for successful bidders for the other three projects was Tandi project (11.10 per cent), Lara Sumta (10.59 per cent) and Badrang project (10.10 per cent). The low free power quoted by independent power producers (IPPs), being seen as a correction process as the first ever free-power based bidding, saw bid as high as 26 per cent. The successful bidders later realised that they had erred on the higher side as a result of which a majority of them sought more time for depositing the upfront premium.

The government, last week, allowed time extension of 30 days to the IPPs for depositing upfront premium in respect of Seli (320 MW), Kuling (40MW), Mane Nadang (70MW), Lara (60MW), Kilhi Bahl (7.5 MW), Siul (13MW) and Dugar (236 MW) projects.