India’s NTPC To Build Country’s Biggest Thermal Power Plant In Eastern State Of Jharkhand

The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has joined hands with the government of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand to build the country’s largest thermal power plant. The state-run company will own a 74 percent stake in the $5.5 billion facility and the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) will own the remainder, The Economic Times reported.

The facility, which is expected to have an annual power generation capacity of 6,400 megawatts, will be constructed in two phases. The first phase -- capable of generating of 4,000 megawatts -- was announced Sunday, while the next phase -- to generate 2,400 megawatts -- will be announced at a later date, according to local reports.

The joint venture will “build an efficient super critical project of 4,000 MW in two phases, provide cheap and affordable 24X7 power supply to every household and adequate power for farmers in Jharkhand,” NTPC said in a statement obtained by the Press Trust of India, a local news agency.

The coal-fired plant, which is estimated to cost 350 billion rupees ($5.5 billion), will be located in the town of Patratu in Ramgarh district, and is said to be part of the state government’s larger plan of reviving existing power plants.

Patratu already houses 10 units of thermal power -- operated by JSEB -- with a production capacity of 840 megawatts. According to the new plan, the old facilities will be replaced by four 800-megawatt units in the first phase, followed by another four similar units in the second phase. The first phase of the project is expected to be commissioned in 23 months from the day the allocated land -- measuring over 6,800 acres -- is handed over to the joint venture, The Economic Times reported.

According to an NTPC executive, cited by the paper, there was an earlier plan of handing over about 3,000 acres to NTPC for setting up a facility with a capacity to generate 1,320 megawatts of thermal power.

“This plan has now been replaced with a new one, where the entire land at PTPS (Patratu Thermal Power Station) will be transferred to NTPC, on which the new generation units will be built through the JV,” the executive told The Economic Times.