Girye Ultra Mega Power Project

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Girye Ultra Mega Power Project is a proposed 4,000-megawatt (MW) coal plant in Maharashtra, India.

Location

The map below shows the village of Girye, but not the exact location of the project:

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Background

Girye Ultra Mega Power Project is one of nine Ultra Mega Power Projects proposed by the government of India as part of a strategy to add an additional 100,000 megawatts of generation capacity by 2017. The 4,000 megawatt project is proposed for the state of Maharastra.[1][2]

The special purpose company created by the Indian government's Power Finance Corporation (PFC) to develop the project is Coastal Maharashtra Power Limited.[3]

According to the PFC's website, as of February 2012, the project has not yet been awarded to any bidder.[4]

Citizen opposition

In 2007 the Hindustan Times reported that the site for the project was selected "after the Central Electricity Commission carried out a detailed feasibility study and gave its go-ahead completely overlooking sensitivities of local alphonso growers." (Alphonso is another name for a variety of mango). The newspaper reported that the "3,000-acre piece of land originally earmarked for the project spreads over four villages with a population of about 4,000." It was also reported that the project was opposed by "a determined group of alphonso mango farmers who have refused to yield even an inch of their land" for the project as there is no alternative land available for alphonso farming.[5][6]

The Hindustan Times reported that of the 9 locations initially selected for Ultra Mega Power Project "three including Girye in Maharashtra, Akaltara in Chattisgarh and Tadri in Karnataka may have to be eventually abandoned. Despite being a pit head project, the Akaltara project has been dogged by coal linkage issues, while the Tadri project has been delayed due to various reasons, including the unstable political situation in Karnataka."[5]

Project on back burner

In October 2007 the Ministry of Coal noted that the Central Electricity Authority "had identified the site in consultation with the State Government. About 3000 acres of land had been identified near villages Tirlot/ Saundle/ Padel in Taluka Deogarh, Distt. Sindhudurg. However, due to local agitation, requisite clearances for the land are not available. Therefore, the bidding process has not been initiated. Ministry of Power has taken up the matter with the State Government for suggesting an alternate/additional site. In a recent communication, the State Government has indicated the availability of additional site at Dighi. However, the Central Electricity Authority, after carrying out the preliminary investigations has suggested that owing to limited availability of land, the site may not be suitable for development of the UMPP for 4000 MW. Final position from the State Government is awaited. The bidding process will be initiated after availability of a suitable site is confirmed by the State Government."

In 2013 the project was reported as deferred.[7]

Project Details

Sponsor: Coastal Maharashtra Mega Power Limited
Parent: Power Finance Corporation
Location: Girye village, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra
Coordinates: 16.527161, 73.326656 (approximate)
Status: Cancelled
Nameplate capacity: 4,000 MW
Type:
Projected in service:
Coal Type:
Coal Source:
Estimated annual CO2:
Source of financing:

Resources

References

  1. Rebecca Petchey, Michael Lampard and Alan Copeland, Thermal coal", Australian commodities, ABARE, Volume 17 number 1, March quarter 2010, page 155.
  2. Amiti Sen & Subhash Narayan, "States make case for second UMPP with advanced land clearances", Economic Times, (India), March 20, 2010.
  3. Ministry of Power, "Ultra Mega Power Projects", October 2007, page 3.
  4. Power Finance Corporation, "Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP)", Power Finance Corporation website, accessed February 2012.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Samiran Saha and Gaurav Choudhury, "Giriye power project: Mango farmers not to give up land", Hindustan Times, November 25, 2007.
  6. "Maharashtra yet to take a call on Girye ultra-mega power project" The Financial Express, December 18, 2006.
  7. "UMPPs in the cold storage, for now," India Express, May 31, 2013.

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