Patna, Oct. 28: Bihar State Electricity Board has received a lukewarm response from bidders to sell 300MW of power through bidding in response to the board’s request to purchase electricity from the open market.

Only NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited and PTC India Limited have submitted bids. October 20 was the last day for submitting bids.

On October 3, the board had invited bids for procurement of 300MW power on short-term basis from December to February 2012.

When asked whether or not it would affect the deal keeping in view that only two companies have come forward, a senior official told The Telegraph: “It (the less number of companies) would not affect the prospect of the power purchase deal, as this would be a short-term agreement. Both companies are power traders and do not have generation units. Keeping in view the companies’ profile, I think that the board would easily sign a deal for 300MW provided they quote a justifiable price.”

If they propose an exorbitant price, the board would not be in a position to purchase power, he added.

The official said according to the rule enshrined in the tender, the board would have to pay the company on a weekly basis and for that the board needs the government’s assurance (for funding), otherwise it would be difficult for the board to purchase power.

When asked when the process would be complete, official sources said they would have to complete the procedure (of signing the power purchase agreement with the successful bidder) latest by November 20 to enable supply of 300MW from December 1. This would be in addition to what the state receives from the central sector.

The board has decided to purchase 300MW from the open market as the commissioning of new power plants, including its own generation units, and memorandums of understanding with NTPC and others would take time owing to a long gestation period.

Besides, renovation and modernisation work at Barauni and Kanti thermal plants would be completed only after June 2012.

This is the second time that the board had floated tenders for purchasing power from the open market on a short-term basis after successfully signing the power purchase agreement with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited for purchasing 300MW to ensure electricity supply for September, October and November.

The company at present supplies 300MW of power to the board.

Bihar is heavily dependent on the central sector allocation for power as its own power generation is barely about 150MW to 200MW against the state’s peak demand of 2,500MW.

The state normally receives about 1,000 to 1,300MW from the central sector against the scheduled allocation of 1,772MW.

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Only two firms, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited and PTC India Ltd have shown interest in the deal

The agreement, if signed, would pave way for availability of 300MW of power from December to February 2012

This is the second proposal by the board to purchase power from open market

Earlier, the board had inked a deal with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited for supply of 300MW of power from September to November