HYDERABAD: Failure to clear bills delayed the construction of the 4,000 MW (5X800 MW) Yadadri Thermal Power Plant, BHEL officials informed Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who also holds the Energy portfolio. At a review here, the BHEL officials said that of the Rs 34,500 crore, total cost of the plant, the state government entrusted works worth Rs 20,444 crore to the company. The other works were taken up by the TS Genco.
Of the total works given to the BHEL, the company completed works worth Rs 15,860 crore and the government cleared bills worth Rs 14,400 crore. They said that the BHEL was yet to receive Rs 1,167 crore. The BHEL officials also said that the previous government did not clear the bills as and when the works were completed. They said that 91% of the pending bills were cleared in one go in March 2023.
“That was the reason the BHEL could not clear the bills of sub-contractors, resulting in the delay of the project works,” the BHEL officials explained. They said that the delay in getting environmental clearances too was one of the reasons for not completing the construction of the power plant on time. As per the original agreement between the BHEL and the state government, the company should have completed two units in October 2020 and another two units in October 2021. However, not a single unit has been completed so far.
The energy minister directed the officials to submit a detailed report on the rates quoted by the BHEL, the negotiations between the previous government and the BHEL and the agreement value.BHEL officials said that if the Congress government gets environmental clearances by April 2024, the company would be able to complete the construction of two units by September 2024, two more units by December 2024 and the remaining one unit by May 2025.
The agreement with BHEL for the construction of the Yadadri power plant was signed on June 6, 2015, and the work order was issued in October 2017.BHEL chairman and managing director Koppu Sadashiva Murthy, director Tajinder Gupta and others were present at the meeting.