Coal, power min meet tomorrow on NTPC's Jharkhand proj

The coal and power ministries are slated to meet tomorrow to decide the fate of NTPC's proposed 1,980-MW North Karanpura thermal power project in Jharkhand, which has been hanging fire for almost a decade on account of a controversy over its location.

The Coal Ministry has been pressing for relocation of the project, arguing that the proposed site is situated above an estimated 6 billion tonnes of coal reserves.

"Both the coal and power ministries are meeting tomorrow to further decide on NTPC's North Karanpura thermal power project in Jharkhand," an official with the Coal Ministry told PTI.

NTPC's North Karanpura project -- situated in Chhatra district of Jharkhand -- was supposed to be implemented during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12). However, it subsequently got entangled in the dispute between the coal and power ministries over its location and has been stalled ever since.

According to media reports, the Coal Ministry wants the plant to be set up at another site in Jharkhand. In this regard, the Coal Ministry claims that the Power Ministry had earlier given its consent for shifting the location of the proposed plant. However, the Power Ministry later reversed its position and refused to cooperate, the Coal Ministry said.

The foundation stone for the Rs 8,000 crore project was laid in September, 2001, at Chattra. However, no work has taken place on the ground ever since.

In addition to the dispute between the coal and power ministries, the project suffered delays due to problems securing debt-funding by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

It seemed that things were sorted out after NTPC revised the project parameters in 2006 -- following which it tied up with JBIC for financing the debt component of the project -- but the continuing differences between the coal and power ministries has thwarted hopes of any progress being made. The project is proposed to be implemented in a debt-equity ratio of 70:30.