NTPC dumps UP, takes plant to MP

MP meets all of power major's conditions. HT reports. Powering up

State-owned NTPC has scrapped its plans to set up a 4,000-MW power plant in Uttar Pradesh over differences with the state government, and instead moved the coal-fired project to Barethi in Madhya Pradesh.

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The Madhya Pradesh government has assured land, water and fuel for the project and NTPC is currently conducting site-specific studies, a senior company official said.

We are preparing the feasibility report for the 3,960-MW project at Barethi in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Originally, NTPC had planned a 3,960 MW supercritical thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh on the initiative of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who wanted to set up a power plant in the Bundelkhand region.

However, the plans ran into problems over differences with the state government on usage of electricity generated by the project.

The government had wanted all the power produced from the project for Uttar Pradesh, while rules permit sale of only 50 per cent of the electricity generated to the state where the plant is being set up.

The state was also unwilling to make land and water available to the project. Instead, it wanted the company to set up the project in a joint venture with the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd, which was found to be unfeasible, the official said.

Meanwhile, studies at the Barethi site are underway and the project report is expected by the end of 2010.

The detailed project report (DPR) would be ready by the end of the calender year, and the project is slated to be commissioned during the XIIth Five Year Plan Period (2012-17), a source said.

NTPC, which has power generation capacity of over 30,000 MW from all sources of energy, is planning to augment it to 50,000 MW by March 2012.

Of its total of over 30,000 MW, the company's plants in UP contribute about 7,000 MW.