- (1.)THE petitioner, Orissa Integrated Power Limited has filed this petition seeking approval of the Commission for extension of time (for a further period of 730 days i.e. up to 31.3.2014.) to complete the bid process of the project to select a successful bidder. The petitioner has submitted that Orissa Integrated Power Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'OIPL') was incorporated as Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for establishment of coal based thermal pithead power plant of a gross capacity of 4000 MW to be set up at village Bhedabahal in District Sundergarh in the State of Odisha on build, own and operate basis. The petitioner is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Power Finance Corporation Limited and is acting as the Authorized Representative of the Procurers of electricity from the project namely, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
(2.)THE petitioner has submitted that as per the Guidelines notified by the Ministry of Power, Government of India for procurement of power by the distribution licensees through competitive bidding, the Request for Qualification (RfQ) for the project was issued on 11.6.2010 after completion of the activities required under the Guidelines. The last date for submission of RfQ was extended six times by two months on each occasion on the advice of Ministry of Power, Government of India due to forest related issues concerning the coal blocks allocated to the project. The last date of submission of RfQ was 30.7.2012. It has been submitted that as per Guidelines, submission of application for environment clearance to administrative authority responsible for according final approval is a pre -requisite for issuance of RfQ. Ministry of Environment and Forest vide its Memorandum dated 9.9.2011 revised its circular dated 31.3.2011 by requiring intimation of status of application for forest diversion to Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for considering the proposal for environmental clearance. Accordingly, application for obtaining environment clearance was submitted to the concerned authority on 3.1.2012. However, Ministry of Environment and Forest has indicated that application would be submitted to EAC after availability of the environmental and forestry clearance of the allocated coal blocks. For resolving the issue, the matter was referred to CEA on 10.2.2012. The matter was further taken up by the Secretary (Power) with Secretary, Environment and Forest vide letter dated 24.2.2012.
The petitioner has submitted that out of the 3244.163 acres of land required for the project, 68.88 acres are forest land and this requires diversion of forest land for non -forest use. The Forest Diversion Proposal was submitted to the concerned State Government agency on 18.5.2011 which was forwarded to the Principal Chief Conservator, Rourkela for further process on 31.3.2012. The stage -I forest clearance was expected by end of June, 2012.

(3.)THE petitioner has further submitted that Ministry of Power vide its letter dated 13.12.2011 has intimated that the decision of EGoM on the issue related to Standard Bid Documents to be followed for the preparation of the RfQ documents for OIPL as and when decided would be intimated to PFC. The petitioner has submitted that RfQ documents could be prepared only after obtaining the decision of EGoM.