Sasan project: Group of Ministers to meet again on July 24

New Delhi: A meeting of the empowered Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, which met here on Monday, ended inconclusive. The next meeting of the panel, which has been mandated with adjudicating on the award of the 4,000-MW project following glitches in the bidding process, is scheduled for July 24.

“There are some new issues that have been raised... it requires some time... The EGoM will now be held on July 24,” the Power Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, told reporters after the meeting.

Mr Shinde said the group was examining all options so that future projects do not get affected in a similar manner.

The bidders for the Sasan project have been asked to extend their bid validity by one month to August 4.

Lanco Infratech, Reliance Energy and NTPC Ltd have already extended the bid bond validity for the Sasan project by one month to August 4.

Mr Shinde said the EGoM has been constituted to eliminate delays due to technical and legal issues in the implementation of ultra mega power projects.

The EGoM would not examine the bids but would only step-in in cases where issues became complex, he had earlier said.

The EGoM was set up after the Government and Power Finance Corporation failed to decide on the fate of the project. PFC is the nodal agency for implementation of ultra mega power projects.

A Lanco-Globeleq combine had won the project by quoting a tariff of Rs 1.19 per unit.