New Delhi, Sept 19: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will soon abandon the joint venture route to set up greenfield power projects in the country. This move follows the statutory requirement that all projects not fully promoted by the NTPC in the thermal sector will have to be set up through the competitive bidding route. The power giant has made it clear that it will not participate in the competitive process because it will mean bringing about fundamental changes in way it goes about constructing power projects in the country.The new thinking on JVs by the NTPC was prompted by the grounding of a joint venture deal between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the public sector power giant for a 360mw power station at Hazira by the Gujarat government. NTPC and ONGC were to hold 25 per cent each in the equity of project. The other 50 per cent of the risk capital was to have been distributed amongst the public and the financial institutions.
The Gujarat government has directed that theproject should be promoted on the basis of the competitive bid formula leveraged on the least tariff parameter. The state has claimed that the "MoU" route to power generation has been abandoned by the central government and directions have been given by Shram Shakti Bhavan that all new power projects should be set up via the competitive bidding route.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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