Bihar seeks 50% of power from new NTPC plants

Bihar government has requested the Centre to allocate 50% of electricity generated from its two upcoming thermal power stations belonging to the NTPC.

Bihar government has requested the Centre to allocate 50% of electricity generated from its two upcoming thermal power stations belonging to the NTPC.

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The state has argued before the Centre that wherever NTPC plants are located, 50% of the power generated there are given to the home state and Bihar should also benefit from this policy.

Leading an all-party delegation from the state, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday and told him about the Centre's decision to allocate 50% of power generated by upcoming NTPC projects to the states under "home state share" policy.

The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister for meeting Bihar's power requirements.

"From Barh Thermal Power Station, Bihar will get only 16.3% of the installed capacity...Similarly in Kahalgaon Thermal Power Station, only 6.6% of total generating capacity will be allocated to the state," Kumar had said after the meeting.

During the recent Budget Session, a consensus emerged within all the political parties in the state that a delegation should meet and submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister for increasing Bihar's share of power from these two NTPC projects to 50%, he added.

The total power generation capacity of Barh power plant will be 1,980 MW and Kahalgaon will generate 1,500 MW of electricity.

Bihar's power generation capacity is only 0.24% of the national capacity and after creation of Jharkhand, its generation capacity has dwindled further.

The per capita energy consumption of Bihar is 122.11 units against the national average of 778.71 units.