The standard bidding documents for case-II auctioning of power plants are ready and are submitted to an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), said Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Power (Independent Charge).

“We are waiting for a date from EGoM to clear it,’’ Scindia said while addressing a CII conference on Tuesday.

Ultra mega power projects

The release of latest bidding documents would facilitate awarding of 4,000-MW each ultra mega power projects (UMPP) in Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

In case-II type of bidding, a captive coal block is packaged along with the thermal station for sourcing fuel.

Coal supply shortage

The Power Minister admitted that there is 10 per cent shortage in domestic coal supply at the moment. At the same time, Scindia expects public sector power producer NTPC to sign fuel contracts with Coal India by the “end of next month’’.

NTPC is at loggerhead with Coal India over clauses mentioned in the draft fuel supply agreement. “Hope all FSAs to facilitate 60,000 MW of capacity are signed within three months,’’ he said.

Electricity tariff

According to Scindia, Electricity Distribution Utilities (Discoms) should work in reducing losses to ensure that the tariff hike is minimal.

>Siddhartha.s@thehindu.co.in