Ahmedabad, 13 January 2013

In an interview with PTI, Country’s biggest private sector electricity producer Tata Power has accused entities with vested interests, along with some foreign NGOs, of spreading “falsehood” about environmental issues at its flagship 4,000 MW Mundra project in Gujarat.

Tata Power Managing Director Anil Sardana said, “though Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) has not violated any environmental norms, there are some foreign agencies, some such type of NGOs, who in connivance with some elements have started to arm-twist us, the company would not buckle under any criticism. It (criticism) has created a falsehood. That’s all. Reaction to appease these things (spreading falsehood) is not in our dictionary… Obviously, we will not do anything in that direction… (We will) do the right thing, that’s it. ”

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), an independent arm of the World Bank group, is assessing whether the investment in Mundra project is in compliance with various environmental and social norms. World Bank Group’s private lending agency, International Finance Corp (IFC), has invested USD 450 million in Mundra UMPP.

Sardana said, “It is very clearly a testimony of the fact that there are some elements which for their own vested interests are raking up an issue. It is the right of IFC to say that it is one of the lenders and would want to check it. We need to also understand that in this country, power project is not being set up for the first time. We need to also understand that we have been operating Trombay plant for the last 50 years.There have been several independent checks on Mundra project and all of them were found to be satisfactory.I welcome any check and also criticism. I also welcome criticism and there is nothing wrong with criticism, except for the fact that if there is nothing that is found in the aftermath of the checking.”

Mundra plant, fired by imported coal, is grappling with high fuel prices which are hurting its financial viability. Three 800 MW units are generating electricity, while the fourth unit was recently synchronized — the final step before commissioning.

“Ratan Tata was not concerned about “falsehood” surrounding Mundra project. He (Tata) in his tenure has seen so many such protests … Once he has seen, reviewed and satisfied for himself that our team is doing a genuine work, then he leaves it to the team to deal with the situation,” he said.