BANGALORE: Centre's prolonged silence over allocation of gas for the Bidadi project has forced the state government to reduce the production capacity of the proposed 1,400MW gas plant by half.
A senior official of Karnataka Power Corporation disclosed this to Express. He said the state had no option but to take this step mainly owing to issues related to gas availability. A senior official from state Energy Department confirmed this. The state government has been pushing the Centre for sourcing the gas. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, during his visit to Delhi in March, had asked Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, to intervene for gas allocation for the Bidadi power project. It has been pending for a few years now.
As per the earlier project, the 1,400MW plant was to have four units of 350 MW each. It was estimated to cost `3,750 crores. After gas allocation, it would have taken 36 months to implement the project. But now, the Energy Department official said, the project would get delayed. He said they would have to invite fresh tenders for the 700MW plant. Past year, tenders had already been invited and received for the 1,400MW plant. The official said fresh tenders could be invited only after state cabinet's approval, which means further delay.The state government is looking to develop alternative sources of power such as solar energy. The Energy Department official said gasbased power was expensive and in the long run, solar power would cost less. Thus, he said, the state may focus on harnessing solar power instead of relying on gas, which is expensive.
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