Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) chairman Anil Ambani today said that the work on the Rs 20,000 crore Ultra Mega Power Project at Sasan, which his group company Reliance Power had won, would begin in next 90 days and the plant will be fully operational in 50-60 months. He also said that power generation from Rossa power project in Uttar Pradesh is expected to start from 2009. “The basic construction work for setting up the 4,000 MW UMPP with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore would begin in next 90 days. We are hopeful of getting all the clearances (central and state) by that time,” Ambani said after reviewing the progress of various projects with Mahdya Pradesh state chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan today.The Sasan UMPP in Sidhi district of the state will be fully operational in 50-60 months, Ambani said when asked about the time limit fixed by his group for implementation of the project. The project had created a controversy in its pre-bid stage as Lanco Globelq was initially awarded the project. However, later an Empowered Group of Ministers disqualified Lanco Globeleq after finding some misrepresentation by the consortium.Reliance Power had also come out with an IPO, which received unprecedented response from investors, and raised more than Rs 11,000 crore. Ambani, referring to 1,200 MW Rossa power project in Uttar Pradesh, said that power generation from the project would begin from 2009. On the issue of gas-based Dadri project, he said that discussions and negotiations on supply of gas is going on and hinted that it will shortly be finalised. Ambani also reviewed the progress for setting up a 20 million tonne capacity flyash based cement manufacturing plant which would be the largest cement unit in the state. He said that his group is aiming to be among the top five cement manufacturers of the country in the longer run. The chief minister handed him papers regarding allotment of 125 acres of land to Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Communication and Technology at village Acharpura in Bhopal. To a question on difficulties faced by his group in Madhya Pradesh specially with regrad to this investment plans, Ambani said that they were enthused by the kind of response given by the state government to projects of his group. However, he said that not just Madhya Pradesh but other states on the country have to do a lot in solving problems faced by the industrialists specially on the front of relocation and rehabilitation and also issues related to land. “Process of implementation of the projects should further expedite and accelerate in all the states,” he remarked. He said that nearly 40-50,000 people will get employment in the initial stages of implementation of his group’s projects in the country. Referring to fluctuations in the capital market, he said it is a part of global recession and not specific to India. Earlier, Madhya Pradesh chief minister informed that the meeting has reviewed the progress of MoU signed with Ambani during the Global Business meet at Indore. He said that the group will invest Rs 50,000 crore in the state which also included setting up of Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Communication Technology on 125 acres of land. The chief minister also handed over papers of allotment of 1306 hectares of land to Anil Ambani for setting up a cement manufacturing unit in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.
