With Jaypee Associates, the lowest bidder in the third attempt to get the 1320-mw Karchchna project on-stream, refusing to lower its rates, the final decision of handing over the project or calling it yet again, lies in the hands of the state energy task force (ETF).
The issue, which has been hanging fire for quite some time, is unlikely to see the light of day in the near future.
According to officials of the state energy department, the official reason given by the developer is that with the present market scene turning choppy, coupled with the rate of the dollar fluctuating daily, it is difficult for the company to lower its rates, especially so since the prices of raw material have seen a continuous rise in the past six months or so.
?The matter is now going to be decided at the ETF level and it will have to take a final call on which way the project would go,? said a senior official of the power sector.
Granting the project to Jaypee at the present tariff would cost an extra burden of over Rs 320 crore per year.