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| Bihar power projects facing bottlenecks | |
| Press Trust Of India / Patna December 2, 2008, 0:34 IST | |
A massive Rs 50,000 crore investment has been lined up to set up new thermal power stations in power-starved Bihar, setting the stage for rapid industrialisation.
 However, going by the pace of progress on these projects, the power stations are unlikely to see the light of day before 2012, two years after the tenure of the present government ends, according to official sources.
Land acquisition and coal linkages are proving to be major bottlenecks for the power projects, while the commissioning of plants could also be delayed due to the state government’s unwillingness to acquire land by applying force, keeping perhaps in mind the trouble at Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal.
The state government has taken a policy decision that farmers giving their land for infrastructure development would be adequately compensated.
The government recently announced that a person whose land would be acquired would get Rs 1.95 lakh per acre and if donated voluntarily he would get Rs 2.40 lakh per acre. If any residential land was acquired, the land owner would get the cost of land and building house, Rs 10,000 for temporary accommodation and Rs 5,000 for shifting household goods.
Out of the 14 power plants lined up for investment, only one plant — being set up by JAS Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd, Patna — has made some progress as it has identified 415 acres of land for acquisition. The company has signed an MoU with Bihar government for setting up a 2,640-Mw power plant at Banka for which the Union Ministry of Coal has allotted a coal block at Mahuagarhi on the basis of a 50:50 joint venture, a document released by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on completion of his three years in office said.
The proposals which have been cleared by the State Investment Promotion Board for setting up power plants in the state include those submitted by Nalanda Power Company, Kolkata (2,000 Mw plant at Pirpainty in Bhagalpur), Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd, Kolkata (1,000 Mw plant at Bhagalpur), IL&FS, New Delhi (500 Mw at Motipur in Muzaffarpur), Triton Energy Ltd (1,320 Mw plant at Nabinagar in Aurangabad), Subhash Project and Marketing Ltd (1,200 Mw plant at Lakhisarai).
The other projects which have been cleared but the land has not been identified for setting up the power plants include those from Vikas Metal and Power Ltd, Kolkata (500 Mw), India Power Corporation Ltd, Kolkata, Krishak Bharti Co-operative Ltd, New Delhi, Cement Manufacturing Company Ltd, Kolkata, Aston Field Renewable Resources Ltd, Kolkata (100 Mw biogas based unit), Saran Energy Ltd (10 Mw biogas- based unit) and Reliance Industries Ltd (5 Mw solar power based unit at Patna).
After getting the clearance from SIPB, the four companies which have signed an MoU with the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) are Vikas Metal, Jas Infrastructure, Nalanda Power and Adhunik Power.
Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd, Nalanda Power Company and Jas Infrastructure have identified 1,000 acres, 600 acres and 415 acres of land, respectively, so far. Vikas Metal, which is yet to identify land, has postponed its project till the allotment of coal block and suitable land.
If these proposed power plants were successfully synchronised it would not only make Bihar a power surplus state with an additional 12,130 Mw but would also provide jobs to nearly 15,000 people directly.
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