Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is likely to miss its annual construction order target following a move by a state-run power distributor in India to scrap its plans to build a 1 trillion won ($900 million) thermal power plant.

Doosan had bid the lowest price for the 1,320-megawatt Katwa power plant in West Bengal commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation, India’s state-owned enterprise and the country’s largest power producer.

“The NTPC canceled the project suddenly in mid-process,” a Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction official said on Wednesday, confirming that the firm had been the lowest price bidder.

“It is not often, but also not rare to scrap a project during the bidding process, and this happens in other countries, too. As we have not won the contract, there will be no penalties or other measures to be taken.”

With the halt of this new project, Doosan now has a low chance of meeting its annual target of winning 10 trillion won worth of construction orders. As of the third quarter of this year, the company had secured projects worth 4.4 trillion won.

At the time of the September bidding, the NTPC sources were quoted as saying that Doosan had narrowly beaten Indian rival Larsen & Toubro, and that construction on the project would start in the following next six months.

The reason behind the sudden cancellation by NTPC was because the agency had reportedly been pushing the project without attaining proper government approvals on environmental and other issues.

The land earmarked in Katwa had run into considerable opposition from farmers and landowners who claim that the area is rich in agricultural potential, according to the Indian media.

Meanwhile, back home, Doosan has been busy streamlining its operations to address an industry downturn amid a sluggish global and domestic economy.

Last week, the firm accepted applications for voluntary retirement from about 10 percent of its 4,500-staff workforce.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)