The Hindu Business Line : PFC to soon invite proposals for Orissa mega power project

Ultra Mega Project in Orissa: Mr Rakesh Nath, Chairman, Central Electricity Authority, and Mr Anil Razdan, Power Secretary, at a conference on ‘Key inputs for Indian power sector for 11th Plan & Beyond’ in Mumbai on Wednesday. Mr Razdan said Power Finance Corporation will soon call for proposals for the 4,000-MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project in Orissa.

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Mumbai, May 21

The Power Finance Corporation will soon call for proposals for the 4,000-MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Orissa, said Mr Anil Razdan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Power.

He was addressing the media at a CII function on Wednesday.

Mr Razdan said that the project will start before the end of the calendar year. The ministry is also looking into the proposal from the Government of Orissa for three new sites for setting up UMPPs, he said.

A site near Tilaiya village in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand has been identified by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in consultation with the Government of Jharkhand, for development of a pit head coal fired power project of 4,000 MW with the scope of expansion in future.

About 3,355 acres have been identified for main plant and ash dyke.

Township for the staff is to be made available by the Jharkhand Government.

Imported coal

Mr Razdan said that if all the planned power plants go on line, then by end of 11th Plan (2012) the country would require 40 million tonnes (mt) of imported coal.

“We are in active dialogue with concerned ministries for faster handling of coal at the ports,” he added.

Land acquisition

The process of land acquisition for UMPPs has been slow due to the opposition from the local population and huge area required for the projects.

Mr Razdan said that in the last one year the Power Ministry along with the CEA has done an exercise in order to optimise the land requirement for the projects.

The CEA has done a rethink on the land requirement and has suggested reduction by 15 to 40 per cent, he said.

Mr Razdan said that coastal UMPPs do not require large area of land for handling coal because ash content of imported coal is less. There is a possibility of reducing land requirement, he said.

“We need to keep in mind that the land requirement for UMPPs is huge and India is a densely populated country,” he added.

Maharashtra project

About the UMPP for Maharashtra that has been delayed due to change in the location of the plant, Mr Razdan said that as soon as the ministry gets a new site duly cleared by the Maharashtra Government initial ground work could start.

The earlier site for the UMPP had faced opposition from the locals.

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