Seven top power companies of the country have submitted their bids for the 1,320-mega watt (MW) thermal power plant proposed to be set up in Nalash village near Rajpura. 

The technical and financial bids of these seven companies were opened by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) on Friday. The final selection of the successful bidder will be made after evaluation of the documents submitted by the companies.

Lanco Infra had successfully bid for the plant earlier, but it had been rejected by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, following which bids were invited again.

The response of the nation’s top power companies to the re-bidding process, amid economic slowdown, has come as a surprise to the Punjab Government. PSEB officials said the response was “overwhelming” as only five requests for proposal had been received for the Mundhra power plant in Gujarat some time ago.

The seven companies who have bid for the Rajpura plant are Adani Power, Larsen and Toubro, Lanco Infra, GMR, Welspun, JSW Power and Alliance Hydro of Emtec group.

At least 25 power companies had initially evinced interest in the plant, but only 13 of them had bought the bidding documents. Among them were Reliance Power and NTPC too. But only seven companies finally participated in the re-bidding process.

The coal-based Rajpura thermal power plant with two units of 660 MW each will be awarded to a developer on build, own and operate basis through tariff-based international competitive bidding. This is the first initiative of the Punjab Government to encourage private investment in the power sector. The state also endeavours to promote public-private participation in the field of power generation.

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