Hinduja, Cogentrix fast-track projects ready for MoF nod
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Jan 20: Three fast track power projects, including the 1040 mw capacity unit of Hinduja and 1000 mw of Cogentrix, will be made ready this week for finance ministry's consideration to give counter guarantee, power minister Y K Alagh has said."Three projects will be cleared this week and it will then be up to the finance ministry to take note of it for the purpose of counter guarantee," Alagh told PTI in an interview. Emphasizing the government's commitment to give counter guarantee to four of the eight remaining fast track projects cleared in 1991 he said, "no mature country goes back from the commitments it made in the past." He said most issues relating to Hinduja project in Visakhapatnam, 1072 mw Bhadrawati project of American giant GEC Alsthom and 1000 mw Mangalore power project of Cogentrix have been cleared, but 420 mw IB-valley project of U S utility AEC will take some more time.Meanwhile, government sources said the high-power board headed by cabinet secretary T S R Subramaniam set upa small committee to determine coal prices for the Rs.4631 crore Bhadravati project. The committee, chaired by Subramaniam, is expected to clinch the issue in three to four days. Stating that the lignite pricing issue for Hinduja project has been cleared, sources said the state government has also sent a revised power purchase agreement (ppa). Asked about delays in the 1072 mw Cogentrix project sources said, the Karnataka government is expected to bring an ordinance soon to allow state electricity board (SEB) to join hands with private sector for transmission activities. The project had been hanging fire for want of arrangements to evacuate power from it and the proposed ordinance will pave the way for counter guarantee and financial closure of the Rs 4,000 crore power venture. However, the clearance for the Rs 2,000 crore IB-valley project will be delayed in view of the impending techno-economic clearance by central electricity authority (CEA) in view of the revised costs, being finalized by the
project authorities.Expressing satisfaction on the front of private sector participation, Alagh said that 20 projects totalling about 7,500 mw capacity had tied up with Indian financial institutions for their finances. These projects, including the Rs 4700 crore Daewoo project in Korba and 515 mw Essar plant at Hazira, clearly showed that, "India can negotiate and implement large projects and bring them to financial closures in a reasonably transparent manner and that investors have confidence in the country, " Alagh said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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