Power Company of Karnataka to start bidding process on 1,320MW Gulbarga project

Power Company of Karnataka Limited (PCKL), a wholly-owned company of the government of Karnataka, will shortly issue a request for proposal (RFP) documents to 22 bidders qualified for its proposed 1,320 Mw Gulbarga coal-based super-critical thermal power project. The project is proposed under the Case-2 bidding framework as per the competitive bidding guidelines. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 7,500 crore.

PCKL is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by the Karnataka government to bridge the widening gap between demand and supply by capacity addition through competitive bidding route. Gulbarga thermal power project is the first project taken up by PCKL under the competitive bid route.

In Case-2 bidding the Central or state government, which is calling for bids to assist private developers to set up large power plants in securing land, water and mandatory clearances.

The PCKL had refloated bids for the Gulbarga Thermal Power Project on a build, own and operate (BOO) basis twice in July 2010 and May 2012 following directions from Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).

“We have completed the technical evaluation of all bidders and are waiting for the legal department opinion. Once the legal department gives the clearance, we will issue the RFP documents to the successful bidders and complete the selection of the winner in two months from the date of offering RFP documents,” D N Narasimha Raju, principal secretary, energy department, government of Karnataka told Business Standard.

Tata Power, GMR Energy Limited, Jindal Power Ltd, Shree Cement Limited, GVK Industries Ltd, Adani Power Ltd and Reliance among others are in the fray to bag the project. The bidders will be asked to submit their financial bids, he said.

As per the original plan, PCKL had the responsibility to secure coal linkage for this project. However, as the government of India has not provided coal linkage to many power projects including Gulbarga project in Karnataka, the company amended the RFQ document and enabled the private players to secure coal linkage on their own. Subsequently, the company refloated RFQ for the project in May 2012. As per the amendment, the bidders will have to source their own coal either in the domestic market or import or a blend of both.

PCKL is in possession of 1,601 acres of land in Gulbarga taluk near Firozabad, Kirangi and Nadisinnur village limits and has secured allocation for 2.06 TMC of water from Googal Barrage across Krishna River.

The project will be constructed over a period of four years from the date of signing the agreement and the entire power generated would be supplied to the state grid