Plan panel hopeful of FSA to power cos in 2 weeks

New Delhi: The power projects which are scheduled to be completed by March 2015 are expected to have operational fuel supply agreement (FSAs) in place within two weeks, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here today.

“My expectation is that within two weeks we will essentially have a situation where we would be able to say that all projects (Power) which are going to be completed by March 2015, will have (coal) fuel supply agreements,” he said during the Economist India Summit.

[caption id=“attachment_724685” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) has so far entered into fuel supply pacts with 60 power plants. Reuters[/caption]

The statement by Ahluwalia comes in the backdrop of Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) clearing major infrastructure projects stuck up for long due to various regulatory hurdles. Giving a much-needed boost to large-scale infrastructure projects, CCI on Monday cleared 25 of the 31 oil and gas blocks that were held up for want of clearances. The committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also cleared 13 power projects, freeing up stalled investment of around Rs 33,000 crore.

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State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) has so far entered into fuel supply pacts with 60 power plants even as the deadline set by the Prime Minister’s Office for signing of the FSAs expired in January. A total of 143 FSAs are to be signed by CIL in respect of identified power projects of 60,000-MW capacity, which have been assured of coal supply in the next five years.

PTI