By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand government is yet to respond to union Power Minister SushilKumar Shinde’s suggestion to hand over an ailing plant to India’s largest power generator NTPC Ltd for a turnaround.
“Patratu Thermal Power Plant (PTPT) is not even producing 20 percent of the total production capacity, whereas other power plants produce 60 to 70 percent of capacity,” Shinde told reporters here late Saturday.
“We have asked the state government to hand over PTPT to NTPC.”
PTPT is one of the major power plants of Jharkhand. It has 8 units capable of producing 120 MW each.
Most units, however, remain out of order. Only one or two units are functional at a time, which produce only 20 to 30 percent of capacity.
Jharkhand needs more than 800 MW power but produced only 150 to 250 MW from different power plants. For the remaining, the state depends on central grids.
Despite low production, the government has spent more than Rs.3.5 billion on maintenance and other things of the PTPT plant.
“It is difficult for the state to handover the major power plant to NTPC. PTPT can be revived with strong political will. And if the Madhu Koda government hands over the plant to NTPC, there will be big political repercussion,” a senior government official told IANS.
“No political party will support the move. Above all, Jharkhand will have to purchase power from it’s own plant handed over to NTPC.”
The power minister Saturday laid the foundation stone of 1,000 MW thermal power plant in Koderma district.
Shinde also said that there could be a 4,000 MW ultra mega power plant set up in the state.