Bhubaneswar, Jan. 6: After a lull for sometime, US-based AES Corporation is again lobbying with the state government for the proposed expansion of Orissa Power Generation Corporation’s units III and IV at Ib Thermal Power Plant (ITPP) in Jharsuguda district and off-take of power from it.

For more than a year, the state government and the AES are engaged in a tussle over the off-take of power from the plant putting the 500-megawatt expansion project at jeopardy.

In June 2004, Orissa Power Generation (OPGC) had announced that it would set up units III and IV of 250 mw each in the Ib valley at an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore. Currently, OPGC runs two thermal units with a capacity of 210 mw each in the Ib valley area at a cost of Rs 1,135 crore.

While the Orissa government wants the entire power generated from units III and IV to be sold to the state grid at Rs 1.40 paise per unit, the US power utility is in favour of selling a part of it to other states like Haryana, Punjab and Delhi at Rs 3.50 per unit citing provisions of Central Electricity Act, 2003 that allows third party sale over and above the provisions in the shareholders’ agreement.

In December 1998, when AES had signed the shareholders’ agreement for OPGC with the Orissa government, it was mentioned that the power to be produced from units III and IV will be sold to Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco). In 1999, AES bought a 49 per cent stake in OPGC for Rs 603 crore and has been managing the day-to-day affairs of the company since then.

The expansion of the power plant was supposed to start in March 2005. But the work has been stymied by the government’s reluctance to allow AES sell power outside. The OPGC board consists of six members ? three members each nominated by AES and the state government. So, in the event of a division of votes, there is a clear stalemate.

Well-placed sources in AES said they have started lobbying with the state government over the sale of power. With the OPGC recently declaring an interim dividend of 12.5 per cent for 2005-06, things seem to look better.

At the state secretariat recently, OPGC managing director Gurdeep Singh and other officials handed over a dividend cheque of Rs 31.25 crore to chief minister Naveen Patnaik as the state holds a 51 per cent stake in the corporation.