Lucknow: Hyderabad-based power giant Lanco Kundapalli has emerged as the front-runner against Reliance Energy and Essar Power in the bidding for Rs 1,000-crore 1000 mw Anpara super thermal power project, which was opened yesterday.

Only these three companies have placed their bids for privatisation of the Anpara-C power project.

Lanco is said to have proposed the lowest bid after Reliance and Essar, according to highly placed sources.

All the three bids containing technical and financial documents have been sent to Ernst and Young consultants for evaluation.

The sources said it would take at least one week to give details of the quotations of the three companies by making a 25-year chart of their power rates.

After the report from the consultants, the Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation committee headed by Principal Secretary (Energy), would examine the bids and the letter of acceptance would be given to the awarded company by the end of this month.

The awarded power company would float a new company for the Anpara unit and an agreement would be inked with Uttar Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) by the end of August, 2006.

Under the agreement, within the next six months the required land would be transferred to the new company while the unit will be set up within one year.

The first unit of 500 mw is expected within 54 months from the start of setting up of the new unit, while the next unit will be ready in another six months. Earlier, UPPCL had extended the date from May 22 to June 6 as the last date for submitting the bids for the 1000 mw thermal power station in Sonebhadra district. In the bidding process, the three companies would be required to deposit Rs 3 crores each as earnest money along with necessary documents.

In 2003, the State Government had initiated the process of implementation of the project in private sector which was strongly opposed by the employees of UPPCL. Meanwhile, the joint action committee of the power employees and engineers has criticised the U.P. Government for going ahead with the proposal to hand over Anpara C to the private sector. Committee spokesperson Shailendra Dubey here said the State would have produced cheaper power while the private companies were quoting Rs 2.5 per unit to be produced from the Anpara `C' unit. He said while the public sector could have set up the units within 38 months, the private operator would take time till June 2011 for the same. -- UNI

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