Bengal power project issues will be resolved: NTPC

The country's largest power generation company, NTPC, today said it was hopeful that the issues holding up implementation of its power projects in West Bengal will be resolved soon.

"I am hopeful about the projects in the state. The Adra power project (1320MW) with Railways has some problems with water supply, but we have taken it up with the DVC and it will be sorted out soon," NTPC chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury said here today on the sidelines of a Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI)-organised power seminar.

"Regarding the 1600-MW (800x2) Katwa power project, we need an additional 400 acres of land. The government has already acquired 600 acres and we hope the remaining 400 acres will be arranged for the project, which is currently with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation," he said.

He pointed out that for critical power plants, at least two units are required at the same site to make it viable.

Though the notification of land acquisition has not yet been withdrawn by the new government, NTPC has adopted a wait-and-watch policy toward the project.

The Katwa project was already delayed for over two years after the then Left Front government ran into stiff resistance from 4,600 project-affected persons, who rallied themselves under the Trinamul Congress-backed Save Farmland Cultivators and Agricultural Workers' Committee.

On the low PLF of the Farraka power plant, Choudhury said the issue is being looked into.