NTPC production heads towards crisis in Korba plant

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is heading for major crises in Chhattisgarh as the company has been asked to cut down 50 per cent production in its Korba power station after failing to make necessary arrangement for ash disposal.

The Korba power station of the NTPC has a total installed capacity of 2600 Mw. Besides four units of 500-Mw each, the station has three units of 200-Mw each. Following heavy rains in September, the ash-dyke constructed by the company in Dhanras village was badly damaged.

The dyke has been damaged to such an extent that it cannot store the entire ash coming down from the plant if it goes for full production. The NTPC management had earlier reached a temporary agreement with the state-run power board to use its dyke located nearby. The arrangement was stopped after the company used the dyke for some time.

“The board has served notice on the NTPC asking to cut down the production in its Korba power station by 50 per cent,” Chairman of Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) P Baijendra Kumar told Business Standard. The company has been asked to produce power in accordance with its arrangement to dispose off the ash, he added.

The Korba station of the NTPC will now have to confine its production to 1300-Mw while complying with the CECB order.

The company is planning to construct a new ash-dyke. But the process has just started while the land acquisition work is also yet to be completed.

The CECB order has shunned the NTPC management even as top officials rushed to Raipur to discuss the issue with the senior officials and find a way out. But no solution could be traced out.

The NTPC Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), Arup Roy Choudhury will be meeting Chief Minister Raman Singh late today evening. The issue is likely to come up for discussion during the meeting.

The Korba station is one of the stations of NTPC that produces power at the cheapest rate.

The beneficiary states from the NTPC Korba project include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Daman, Diu and Nagar Haveli.