Central UP to get 3,500-Mw plant

Power-starved region of central Uttar Pradesh may get relieved from the exigencies of prolonged power failures soon.

At the behest of Union Corporate Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament from Farrukhabad, Salman Khursheed, the region is set to get a power generation plant of around 3,500 Mw capacity.

Khursheed visited his constituency along with senior management officials of a Hyderabad-based company, KSK Energy Ventures Ltd.

The company, listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE), will be setting up a 3,500-Mw thermal power project in Farrukhabad in central UP.

On his visit to decide the location for the proposed plant, company representative BS Upadhayaya reportedly said that the company was interested in setting up the plant in hitherto unattended region of the country’s most populous state.

The company is already running seven coal- and natural gas-based power plants in the country, of which two are under construction in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The firm also holds credit for running the country’s first private sector independent power plant (IPP) in Kerala.

The plant is tentatively proposed to be set up near Barakeshav industrial area in the district. According to experts, some 100 hectares of land is required for setting up a plant of 40 Mw generation capacity.

The proposed plant will solve the power woes of around a dozen of neighbouring districts, including the state’s commercial capital, Kanpur.

The company has already set up plants of up to 9,000 Mw power generation capacity in the country, which has solved the power crisis in the respective regions.

The proposal, however, is still in its nascent stage and once the land is acquired, the state government and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) will be required to issue further clearances if the project is to take off.

A plant for production of silicon wafers, a key component in the computer manufacturing industry, could also be started near the proposed plant.