Maharashtra gives a green signal to 11 cogeneration projects

The Maharashtra state government granted clearance to tenders invited for building 11 power co-generation projects. The projects are expected to be commissioned in 15 to 18 months with a total power generation capacity of 185 MW. State co-operative minister Patangrao Kadam, addressing a press conference on Thursday, said that out of 17 approved cogeneration projects, tenders for 11 projects have been approved at the state-level meeting held at Pune on Thursday. The approval for remaining six projects will be given in next three months. The 17 projects will draw a total investment of Rs 1,248, generating 288 MW power.Kadam said that the state has approved 55 cogeneration projects with the power generation capacity of 1000 MW. 33 projects with a capacity of 548 MW will start in the first phase. The expected investment for 33 projects is Rs 2,300 crore. The tenders for all 33 projects will be approved within a year. Kadam stated that power generation has already started at 10 sites with a generation capacity of 112 MW. He said, “The projects also have been approved under various schemes. Three cogeneration projects are approved through ‘Urjankur’ scheme with the power generation capacity of 95 MW and another three projects are approved under BOOT with the generation capacity of 45 MW. All the remaining projects will be given approvals in next 6 to 8 months.” “11 projects granted clearance on Thursday are Sonhira, (Sangli), Purna (Hingoli), Samarth (Jalna), SMS Patil (Solapur), Vasantdada (Nasik), Someshwar(Pune), S Mandik ( Kolhapur), Vasantrao Naik (Sangli), Viththal (Solapur), Ashok (Ahemadnagar) and Kranti (Sangli),” said Rajgopal Devra, state sugar commissioner.“The government has also agreed to bear 5 per cent of total outlay required to set up co-generation project. While the government also has made provision of Rs. 100 crore for this in the state budget for 2008-09,” said Kadam.