REL, Tatas gear up for Krishnapatnam; Oct 24 last date to bid

Reliance Power and Tata Power are among the final nine in fray for the 4,000-MW Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Plant in Andhra Pradesh, price bids for which could be submitted till October 24.

REL and Tata Power have already bagged one ultra mega power project at Sasan and Mundra respectively.

Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for ultra mega power projects, has extended the last date for accepting bids for Krishnapatnam project to October 24, sources said.

Essar Power, Sterlite Industries, Larsen and Toubro, D S Construction, Japan's Sumitomo Corp and CLP-GMR combine are other companies believed to be in the qualified bidders list.

Four firms, including AES China, have supposedly pulled out of the race.

PFC has extended the last date for accepting bids several times. The company had last extended the date to September 21 from August 25. The request for proposals for Krishnapatnam project, which would run on imported coal, were issued in April.

The PSU had in September also invited fresh bids for the 4,000-MW pit head Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project in Jharkhand.

Both projects have been delayed due to a decision on Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh, which has been awarded to Reliance Power Ltd after a bid by Lanco Infratech and Globeleq combine was disqualified after the Singapore-based firm sold its stake to Lanco and Jindal Steel and Power. RPL matched the Rs 1.19 per kwh bid of Lanco-Globeleq.

The second UMPP at Mundra in Gujarat has been awarded to Tata Power.