Environment ministry backs Telangana's mega thermal power push

The 4,000 magawatts (Mw) coal-fired Yadadri ultra mega power project (UMPP) proposed to be set up by Telangana Genco in Nalgonda district has received approvals from the Union Environment Ministry.

This is the first UMPP being under taken by a state-owned power utility.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao laid the foundation stone for the project in June 2015, the time when the state was reeling under sever power shortage.

The financial closure was also achieved for the project with a total cost of Rs 27,000 crore, out of which Rs 24,000 crore funding is coming from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).

However, the Genco could not proceed with the work so far because of delays in securing clearances from the Environment Ministry. The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry has finally accorded permissions after studying the revised impact assessment report submitted by the state government.

Telangana Genco currently operates power projects with a total installed capacity of 5,235 Mw, out of which 2,882 mw is thermal power and the rest is the hydroelectric power, which is seasonal.

Soon after coming to power Chadrasekhara Rao government had announced a number of new coal-fired power projects partly due to the local availability of coal from the Singareni coalfields.

Since the coal linkage from Singareni was not sufficient to meet the entire coal requirement of this large project, the Genco informed the Ministry that it would use imported coal for any shortfall.

With all approvals in place, the power utility is hopeful of getting the first three units ready within three years, according to Telangana Transco Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao. The Genco has already started the work on 1,080-Mw Bhadradri Thermal Power Project, which was cleared by the Environment Ministry earlier this year.

NTPC is also in the process of implementing a 4,000-Mw thermal power project in the state. Singareni Collieries (SCCL) has already built a 1,200-Mw pit head power project, which is up and running.