Ranchi, May 8: Undecided between Sahebganj and Godda so far for its proposed 1,600MW coal-based thermal power plant, the Adani group has now decided on Godda as the site for which it would sign the second-stage memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government soon.
A senior official in the Adani group said they had zeroed in on Pathargama block in Godda. They aim to get water for the plant from Chir river.
The company needs to pay between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh an acre to villagers who give up land for the project according to new land rates, a highly placed government source added.
As far as coal for the Godda thermal plant is concerned, the company is aiming at import, linkage with another corporate entity or a new e-auction. Though the Adanis were auctioned out Jitpur coal block in Godda, its coal would be utilised for the company's thermal power plant based in Mundra, Gujarat.
State energy department's principal secretary S.K.G. Rahate told The Telegraph today they had received the Adani group proposal regarding its second stage MoU with the state government.
"We will put up the matter for consideration before a high-powered committee chaired by chief secretary (Rajbala Verma). The proposal mentions details of land and other aspects which will be discussed during the committee meeting," Rahate said.
This February, the Adani group signed an MoU with the state government to set up a 1,600MW (2x800MW) coal-based thermal power project in the state in which it was decided Jharkhand would get 25 per cent of installed capacity, that is, 400MW, from alternate sources at a tariff to be determined by Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC). Adani would export the entire electricity produced from the Jharkhand plant to neighbouring Bangladesh according to a previous agreement.
The budget session of Jharkhand Assembly this March was in uproar over the Adanis on two counts, with the Opposition alleging preferential treatment to the Adanis by the Raghubar Das in terms of lower land rates and flexibility to give 25 per cent power from alternate sources and not what is produced in the state.
Taking up the land issue seriously, the Raghubar Das government had in March constituted a panel chaired by then chief secretary Rajiv Gauba to suggest a formula on land rates in the region for non-saleable agriculture acres. Recently, the state cabinet decided on the new rates.
However, the much-awaited revival of the Sindri plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI), to which Adani group had responded with a revival project proposal worth Rs 6,000 crore, is understood to have taken a different route now.
The revival project of three closed fertiliser units at Barauni (Bihar), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) is learnt to be considered by public sector undertakings doing well such as NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), CIL (Coal India Limited) and ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Commission). FCI and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (RCFL) will be other stakeholders. The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
