Jindal Power commissions 600 mw despite coal block uncertainity

With this commissioning, group's generation capacity in Raigarh belt has reached 4,294 Mw, achieving the scale of a UMPP

Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel & Power has commissioned 600 mw fourth unit of Tamnar (Chhattisgarh) power project even as 1,000 Mw of its generation capacity from two earlier units are not functional due to unavailability of coal.

With the commissioning and synchronising of the unit, the group's installed generation capacity in Raigarh belt has reached 4,294 Mw, thereby achieving the scale of an ultra mega power plant, said Ravi Uppal, managing direct and group chief executive officer, JSPL told Business Standard. In addition, JSPL has installed Captive Power Generation Capacity of 854 MW; 540 MW at Dongamahua and 354 MW at Raigarh.

Gare Palma-IV/2&3 coal block linked to the power plant is in the middle of a dispute with JSPL filing a case in the Delhi High Court against the Centre's decision to not allot the block to the company despite it emerging as the winning bidder. These blocks were operated by the group even before the auction but the Supreme Court had last year deallocated them along with other captive coal blocks. "We need the coal for getting the power plant operational. They are our best performing units in the country," Uppal said.

With the completion of the unit, the group's installed capacity now stands at 37.6 billion units of electricity annually, i.e. 3.58 per cent of India's electricity generation in 2014-15, said a company statement. The completion of 2400 MW expansion project takes Jindal Power Limited's (JPL) installed capacity to 3,400 MW, thereby making it the largest power producer in the State of Chhattisgarh.

JPL is the power subsidiary of JSPL. It also has signed a MoU with Jharkhand to set up a 2640 MW thermal power plant. JPL has also signed agreements for development of three hydroelectric projects with combined capacity of 6100 MW in Arunachal Pradesh in joint venture with Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited (HPDCAPL). It is also the largest power plant in country with indigenous BHEL equipment.