ONGC Tripura project to be ready by March 2012
ONGC's 726 MW gas-based power project, at Palatana in South Tripura, is expected to go on steam within a year.
The first unit of 2x363.3 MW project will be ready for commissioning by December 2011 and the second unit will be ready by March next year.
Official sources informed that the ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DONER) is “pursuing with all the concerned stakeholders to ensure timely commissioning of all the units of the power project by March 2012.”
Sources further informed that evacuation of power through a dedicated 651 km 400 kv DC, trunk transmission line is also under construction by a joint venture between Power Grid Corporation and 6 North-Eastern states.
Apart from the 651 km long transmission line, the North-Eastern states will also develop 15 sub-stations and 11 sub-transmission lines for catering to the regional power supply system. The total investment in the project is expected to be around Rs 9,000 crore.
The power generated from the Palatana project will be allocated to all the North-Eastern states by the centre.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 29, 2005. The project had faced many challenges since the beginning, which included transportation of over-dimensional cargos (ODCs) through several hilly terrains, rivers, culverts and water.