Second Round of Power Subsidy Auction Takes Off

New Delhi: The second round of auction for subsidy for power projects that currently receive sub-optimal supplies to buy imported natural gas started today.

Eight bidders, including NTPC and Torrent Power, are in the fray to receive gas for projects of 4,871 MW capacity.

According to the latest data on the MSTC website, four bidders have so far submitted their financial bids in the round that started at 1230 hours.

About 1.1 mmscmd of gas has been offered to plants that are receiving gas from domestic fields but at sub-optimal levels.

The country's largest power producer, NTPC, will be bidding to receive subsidised gas for its four gas-based plants -- Auraiyya, Dadri, Kawas and Gandhar.

The other bidders include CLP India, Gujarat State Energy Generation and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation. Power producers bidding for the lowest subsidy will get the first right over the fuel.

Overall, 31 power stations with a combined capacity of 14,305 MW are languishing because of want of gas. They can bid for support from the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) for generating 30 per cent of their installed capacity, called plant load factor, using imported Liquefied Natural Gas.

The base price for this round of auction is Rs 1.26 per unit.

Yesterday, power companies bid aggressively for receiving government subsidy to import LNG to restart stranded gas-based plants with the lowest price bid of Rs 1.42 per unit.