Palatana power project to be operational by next yr

ONGC's gas-based thermal power project at Palatana, in South Tripura district, will be operational by the end of next year and will produce 363 Mw of power in the first phase, official sources said today.

ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC) Managing Director S K Dubey and Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) Chairman B P Rao visited the Palatana power project site on Friday and met Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey yesterday, where they informed that the project will be operational by December, 2011.

Sources said the OTPC managing director told the minister that the progress of construction of the site was appreciable and light equipment for the project had started reaching the state.

Heavy equipment for the project that was purchased from foreign countries had reached the Kolkata port and would be transported to the state through the Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh, he said.

Following the establishment of 363 Mw of power generation capacity at the project site by December next year, the second phase of generation would begin by March, 2012.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the 726-Mw power project in the year 2005. It will be the largest power project in the North-East once implemented.

ONGC will supply natural gas from its assets in Tripura to the project.