Power min's priority list for D-6 gas allocation upsets R-Power; seeks urgent fuel supply for Samalkot expansion project

Visibly agitated at the reports of the union power ministry's unwillingness to include any of Reliance Power-run units in the priority list for the allocation of natural gas from Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited's KG D-6 block, the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power Limited has approached the ministry to arrange for immediate allocation of gas for its 2,400 MW Samalkot expansion power project. In its recent communiqué to the power minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, the Reliance Power Group President, A N Sethuraman, has argued that the allocation of the 8 MMSCMD of gas from the D-6 block will enable the company to commission the project within the ongoing XIth Plan, that is by March 31, 2012, which in turn help the government achieve its goal of 'power for all' by the end of the current Plan period. 

Moreover, the company has claimed to have registered commendable progress towards the commissioning of the plant, located in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, it pleaded with Shinde to impress upon the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), for adjudicating upon the issues of gas allocation from the D-6 block, to immediately allocate the required quantum of gas to its plant, which is just an extension of the already-operational 220 MW gas-based plant. The private company has already obtained all statutory clearances for the expansion project, including the environment clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The land acquisition for the plant has also been completed, while the arrangement for meeting the water requirements of the plant is in place. Further, the company plans to award the main plant package upon the allocation of the natural gas by the EGoM, as the bids have already been obtained for the package.

Pertinently, in a heartbreaking news to Reliance Power, which plans to add around 8,000 MW gas-based generation capacity during the current Plan, the power ministry, has, reportedly, identified a few power projects, including none of Reliance Power projects, while giving shape to the first list of priority for the power projects to draw gas from the D-6 block when its production level goes past the current capacity of 60 MMSCMD. Even what is more annoying for the company is that the ministry  is seemingly contemplating to include the Samalkot expansion project in the next list of the priority projects, which would obtain gas supplies only in 2012-13 fiscal.