Hyderabad: The revival of six gas-based power plants in Andhra Pradesh has run into fresh trouble as the Union fertiliser ministry has raised the issue of paying sales tax for the RLNG, that is to be imported.

The Union ministry had asked the companies the modus operandi of payment of sales tax, and the state-owned fertiliser companies, which were supposed to respond by Monday, have sought some more time.

The delay is bad news for power-starved Telangana, which is hoping to get at least 700-810 mw of power once these units are operational.

The swapping arrangement (using power generated here through natural gas and in turn agreeing to supply the imported RLNG to the fertiliser units) will also not come into effect as a result, according to Vijayanand, the CMD of APTransco.

As naphtha prices have nose-dived in the international market, the government had asked private power producers including GMR, GVK and Lanco to use naphtha to run these units, which have been lying idle since March 2013 due to shortage of gas.

It might be recalled that the Union ministry of power had recently informed the AP and Telangana governments that 2.4 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic meter per day) of gas would be supplied to gas-based power plants in AP during the summer.

The gas being used by fertiliser manufacturing companies owned by the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers would be diverted to power generation units. As an alternative, the fertiliser units had been asked to use RLNG, which would be imported through Gujarat or Mumbai coasts, in the place of gas.

As per the Reorganisation Act, Telangana state is entitled to get 53.89 per cent of generated power from the four IPPs — GVK Extension, GMR- Vemagiri, Konaseema and Gautami — which amount to 810 MW. The sooner the issue of sales tax is resolved, the sooner will Telangana get power. The Telangana government is also ready to pay for the extra power - up to Rs 6 - Rs 6.50 per unit, sources said.

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