Bihar’s power calendar: updates for power production till 2015
Patna: according to a recent press report, impatient with inadequate supplies from the Central sector for long, Bihar is now taking quick steps to have adequate power-generation capacity. In recent times, around 23 companies including Tata Power, Videocon, Reliance Power, Essar have shown interest in setting up three supercritical power stations of 2 X 660 MW (1,320 MW) each in Bihar through tariff-based competitive bidding. A number of companies participated in a pre-bid conference held at the end of September and the bidding for the project is expected to open in December. According to the contract, successful bidders will supply 85 per cent of generation to the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) at the determined tariff while the residual 15 per cent can be sold at open market.
Bihar Government has committed itself to providing land, water and other such infrastructure for the projects scheduled to come up at Chausa (Buxar), Kajra (Lakhisarai) and Pirpainti (Bhagalpur). Among these BSEB will also ensure coal linkage for the 1,320-MW Chausa project. Unwilling to provide similar facilities to other industries, these offers indicate how desperate the Bihar government is for power and even willing to make an exception and risk the inevitable disputes with landowners. Over time, we have seen public anger boil over in many places in Bihar and it is a good sign that the government realizes the potential damage such outbursts may do to the government and the ruling alliance.
In fact, even at this point, eight members of Kanti Vikas Sangharsh Morcha, protesting against dismal power situation in villages around the Kanti power plant, have refused to call off their fast-unto-death as their agitation spread to the Khudiram Bose Central Jail in Muzaffarpur. Chairman of the organisation Ajay Shankar Sharma and his aides Ganesh Paswan, Pinaki Jha, Deepak Kumar Singh, Nawal Kumar Sah, Ramesh Kumar Thakur, Ajay Prasad Giri and Sanjay Kumar Yadav started an agitation last Sunday to demand round-the-clock power supply to the adjoining villages of Kanti Thermal Power Station (KTPS). Forwarded to the central jail last evening, the protesters have turned down the jail administration’s request to take food, said the superintendent of Khudiram Bose Central Jail, Vishwanath Prasad.
To come back to the calendar, as for the NTPC, the Nabinagar Power Generating Co Pvt. Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and BSEB is in the final stages of awarding BTG (boiler-turbine-generator) contracts for the 3 X 660 MW (1980 MW) coal-based power station in Aurangabad district. The 1,980-MW capacity is scheduled to be commissioned in 2014 with 68 per cent of the total generation allocated for the home State. The public sector power major (NTPC) is also commissioning 2 X 660 MW Barh-II thermal power station near Patna. The first unit of the project is slated to be on stream in December 2012. Bihar has sought 50 per cent share of generation. It is not clear if this demand will come through and whether Bihar can make it part of its policy related calculations already.
Bihar has also signed long-term (25-year) agreements for purchasing nearly 1,000 MW of power from upcoming generation capacities of Essar and GMR in the neighbouring States, through tariff-based competitive bidding route. Supply will commence between 2014 and 2015, according to company and government sources.
[Courtesy: Business Line]